


Shadows Creeping In

by Thatonefangirl44



Category: BnHA, mha, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bakugou Katsuki does not swear, Bullying, Canon Divergence, Depressed Midoriya Izuku, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Insomniac Shinsou Hitoshi, Kirishima Eijirou is a Good Friend, Kirishima Eijirou is a Ray of Sunshine, Midoriya Izuku & Shinsou Hitoshi Friendship, Midoriya Izuku Does Not Have One for All Quirk, Midoriya Izuku Has a Quirk, Midoriya Izuku Needs A Hug, Midoriya Izuku has a villainous quirk, Midoriya Izuku is a Dork, Midoriya Izuku is a Ray of Sunshine, Midoriya Izuku is selectively mute- kind of, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Parental Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Protective Uraraka Ochako, Quirk Discrimination (My Hero Academia), Shinsou Hitoshi is in Class 1-A, Sign Language, Uraraka Ochako is a Good Friend, Written By An ASL Student, You’ll see, bakugou katsuki is a bully
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:28:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 34,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24879220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thatonefangirl44/pseuds/Thatonefangirl44
Summary: Izuku sighed, rubbing his head. He really didn’t know why. He had a villainous quirk, and no matter how much he tried, everyone had always told him that he couldn’t be a hero, to give up…Still.He was trying. Even though his own mother had practically given up on him, even though all his classmates treated him like dirt, even though his teachers saw him as nothing more than a waste of space, he was still trying.
Relationships: Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead & Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki & Midoriya Izuku, Class 1-A & Midoriya Izuku, Kirishima Eijirou & Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Izuku & Shinsou Hitoshi, Midoriya Izuku & Uraraka Ochako, Tenya Iida & Midoriya Izuku, Yagi Toshinori | All Might & Midoriya Izuku
Comments: 92
Kudos: 855





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fan fiction, but I hope you enjoy!

All men are not created equal. 

Midoriya Izuku learned this fact at the age of four.

\------------------

Izuku was a bright and bubbling 4 year old, with eyes full of hope for a wonderful quirk. Kacchan had gotten his a few weeks prior and Izuku  _ knew _ he was going to be a great hero with that power.

“You can be a hero with me; you just won’t have as great of a quirk as mine,” grinned the spiky haired boy. “I’ll be number one! You’ll just have to be number two.” 

Kacchan got praised a lot for his amazing quirk and already knew that he would be the best hero, but Izuku was okay with that. Izuku was just happy for his best friend, and hoped that he would also get his cool quirk soon. 

\------------------

It happened one regular school day. 

Izuku had just gotten home, and was happily writing some notes in his notebook:  _ Hero Analysis for the Future, No. 1. _ He had notes on all his classmates who had quirks, but Kacchan took up the most space in it. In addition to that, he also had all the popular heroes. All Might, Endeavor, Ryukyu, Best Jeanist, and some others. 

As Izuku was writing, he noticed a faint tug in his gut. His hand came to a stop, and he looked around. A dark mass of  _ something _ was sitting still, just a few feet away. It was all inky, but had a small human form, almost radiating specs of black. 

Izuku jumped, and the dark figure twitched. He slowly stood up and walked over to the figure. It didn’t move, so Izuku deemed it safe enough. He carefully brought up his arm, and briefly touched the thing with the tip of his index finger. 

It felt… tingly. In a warm, loving kind of way. He touched it again, this time with his whole hand. The tug in his gut felt a bit stronger, as he saw the shadowy substance move into the touch. 

Curious, Izuku moved his head to the side. The darkness mimicked. He shook his head; so did the shadow. 

Suddenly, Izuku had a revelation. 

_ Is this my quirk?!  _

“ _ Mom! _ ” he yelled. “Mom!!! I think I just got my quirk! Come here!”

He could hear an instantaneous thudding of footsteps coming closer. 

“Oh!” Inko shouted, entering the room and spotting the figure. “What is this, Izuku?”

“Mom, Mom,  _ Mom _ , I think this is my quirk!” he cheered. “It looks so cool! Here, watch!” He shook his head to the side, and Inko watched in wonder as the mass made the same movement. 

She clapped her hands together, a grin lighting up her features. “Wow, Izu! That’s fantastic! I’ll set up an appointment with the pediatrician now so that you can get your quirk registered.” She smiled softly at her now bouncing son. “Can you try putting it away?”

Izuku nodded determinedly. He thought of the weird sensation in his gut, and willed it to go away. Slowly, the feeling left, and he looked up. 

The shadow figure was gone. 

\--------------

By the end of that day, they discovered that Izuku’s quirk was shadow-based. He could manipulate and control shadows within a few feet of him. The doctor had said something about his quirk being a mutation, because neither of his parents had a quirk similar to his, but Izuku had not paid close attention; he was just so  _ excited  _ to finally have a quirk. A good one, too.

Izuku was thrilled! 

He had an awesome quirk, just like Kacchan. He couldn’t wait to show it to his classmates! 

They had decided to call the quirk “ _ Shadow Control _ ”, which sounded a bit boring to Izuku, but that was okay. 

He couldn’t wait for tomorrow. 

\----------------

The next morning, Izuku was up far earlier than he had any right to be.

Izuku happily got dressed immediately and raced downstairs. He scarfed down breakfast, grabbed his backpack, and practically ran out the door. 

“Bye Mom. I’m going to school now! See you later!” He energetically called out, not even giving his poor mother time to reply. Right before he left, he glanced at her face. Izuku was surprised to see it look… sad? Thoughtful? He wasn’t sure. Was she worried about something? 

Izuku put it aside for now, slamming the door behind him and getting to school as fast as he could.

As soon as he set foot in the classroom, he ran over to Kacchan, who was talking to the “extras” in the classroom. 

“Kacchan! Kacchan! I got my quirk yesterday! It’s almost as cool as yours!! Wanna see?” he spoke rapidly, and Kacchan just grinned. 

“Okay, Izu. Show me. I bet it’s not as cool as mine though.”

Izuku thought of the feeling in his gut that he felt yesterday, and willed it to happen again. He looked up to see his quirk standing right in front of him! The other kids gasped in shock and wonder, while their teachers jogged over to see what was happening. 

“Oh, Izuku! That’s wonderful! Is that your quirk?” One of his teachers asked. Izuku just nodded, bouncing on the balls of his feet. 

All the kids were surrounding him now, and one gathered the courage to approach it. He raised his arm and touched it, but instantly flinched back, crying in pain. On his hand were dozens of cuts, with blood dripping to the ground. 

“Owwww! What was that!” his classmate cried out, eyes glassy. “That’s such a bad quirk!”

Hearing that, the other kids joined in as well, saying things like, “That’s so mean, Izuku! Why’d you do that?” and, “What a villainous quirk. I doubt he can become a hero with that.”

Izuku just stood there in shock. His breath hitched in his throat, and tears welled up in his eyes. When he’d touched it yesterday, it had felt nice and pleasant. He definitely hadn't expected his quirk to hurt other people. 

And now his classmates were yelling at him. It wasn’t his fault! He didn’t know it would hurt anyone! 

The teacher scolded him and took him to the corner of the room because of his “bad actions”, while the other kid was taken to the infirmary to be sent home. As Izuku sat down, he put his head in his hands and tried his best to wipe away his tears, but more just kept coming. His classmates stared at Izuku, causing him to wrap his arms around his scrunched up legs and bury his face in them.

Kacchan grinned cheekily. “I knew you wouldn’t have as good a quirk as mine. You know what? Your quirk is just as useless as you. Isn’t that right,  _ Deku _ ?”

Izuku struggled to hold in a sob. He had thought his quirk was cool, but hadn’t it just hurt someone?

None of it made sense, but Izuku still had hope. It was just a mistake. Just one bad day. He could become a hero. The others would change their minds, and he could be accepted. 

Things would change. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


(Except, ten years later, they were exactly the same.)


	2. Chapter 2

Izuku opened his eyes, and somehow gathered the will to get up. He had slept poorly, as per usual, and he really didn’t feel like putting up with anything today. Unfortunately, the world had other plans. 

He cautiously got ready, being wary of how much sound he was making. His mom already worked two jobs just to support the two of them, and he didn’t want to wake her up when she was finally able to get some rest. 

Izuku put on his shoes and silently slipped out the door, with a small granola bar in his hand. He would eat it on the way to school, or find a way to eat in the hallway during lunch time. 

As he got closer to the school building, he made his footsteps quieter and bowed his head, slouching his posture. He had learned that if no one saw him, no one could bully him. Izuku was a bit early, so he slipped into the classroom and put his homework on the desk, hoping that the teacher would collect it before his classmates did. 

Izuku slumped down into his desk, and waited for class to begin. 

“Hey there, Deku, nice homework you got there! Why don’t I take care of it for you— stupid villain!”

Shoot. 

They’d grabbed the papers. Now he’d have to make up an excuse to redo it and turn it in late. 

Izuku lifted his head off the desk, and wasn’t surprised to see a horde of his classmates sneering at him. Bakugou stood at the head, with the homework in his hands. He activated his quirk, effectively burning the paper and dumping it into the garbage— right as the teacher entered the classroom. 

“Midoriya, please stop glaring at your classmates like that. They did nothing wrong.”

Of course he blamed him. It was always his fault, all because of his quirk. 

He hated it. 

He hated his quirk, he hated his classmates, he hated his teachers. He hated this cursed quirk-based society. No matter what a person did, they would  _ always _ be judged on their quirks. Society couldn’t care less about who they were and what they could do without that power. 

He hated everything. 

Well, almost everything. Sure, his mom barely noticed his existence, but he understood. She worked constantly, and when she didn’t, she was free to take some time to herself. Izuku didn’t want her wasting her energy on him. He was a waste of space— a silent person with a villainous quirk. A nobody. A useless  _ Deku _ . He reeled in his anger, and focused his attention back on his surroundings. 

His classmates were sneering, a few giggling behind their hands, while the teacher stood up and began taking attendance. 

“Now, class. Today we’re working on filling out our high school application forms, though I’m sure you all want to be heroes, don’t you?”

Izuku mentally frowned at his teacher’s laziness, while his classmates started cheering and showing off their quirks. Of course, Bakugou’s attracted the most attention, given its flashiness and power, but the teacher eventually called out, “Okay, that’s enough.” 

He passed out the application forms and turned back to Bakugou. “You’re applying at UA, right?”

“Heck yeah I am.” he said, with a foot on the desk. “I’m going to get first in the exam and beat all the other extras. I’m going to become the next number one, stronger than even All Might.” He narrowed his eyes. “All you extras are just pebbles on the side of the road to my success.” 

Izuku mentally rolled his eyes. What had happened to Kacchan? The person who wanted to be just as cool as All Might, who happily played with others, who had the same dream as Izuku? Well, apparently he was gone. Replaced by the egotistical Bakugou, who wanted nothing more than to be on top and adored by others. He sighed and wondered—

“Midoriya, aren’t you applying to UA as well? I’m not sure that’s very practical for you.” He frowned. Izuku just looked away, trying to ignore his (now yelling) classmates. 

“Him? Going to UA?” 

More cackling.

“He’s just a worthless villain, what chance does he have?”

“He should just give up.”

Wow. That was just what he needed. To hear everything his head said to him constantly, spoken by his peers. _It’s not like they’re wrong. You know that, don’t you, Deku?_ It almost made him hurl, but Izuku just shrank in his desk, hoping that this would all be forgotten later. 

\---------------

By the end of the day, Izuku realized that all he wanted to do was go home and lay down on his bed. His limbs dragged on like leaden weights, and his eyes were starting to lose focus. The minute the bell rang, he was out of his seat and speed-walking towards the door. 

“Hold it right there, Deku.” 

Great.  _ Here we go again, _ Izuku thought, before he was grabbed by the arms and forced onto the school grounds.

Although it wasn’t too unusual, the punches, burns, and insults still hurt. Luckily, years of practice helped Izuku maintain a blank face, almost as if he didn’t care. 

(He did, though. Every punch, every insult— they all  _ hurt. _ )

Eventually they left him, bloodied, on the ground and belatedly heard more insults. “ _ Idiot _ ! As if someone like you could get into a hero school, stupid Deku!” 

Scowling internally, Izuku checked himself. His face was sore, so he most likely had bruises there. Then, there were burn marks across his arms, and some other scrapes and scratches. All in all, not too bad. It could’ve been worse.

Still, he seethed.

He hadn’t done anything to them! He hadn’t even used his quirk on anyone in years, and yet they  _ still _ picked on him because they were mad that he had decided to try out for UA’s hero course. Of course. However, instead of dwelling on that subject, he just started limping away. 

He quickly stopped by a corner store and grabbed a container of ramen noodles for dinner with his spare money, before starting his slow walk back home. He subconsciously trudged through the shortest route back. 

Suddenly, he felt an abrupt change in the air as he walked under an abandoned bridge, and quickly looked around. A sewer pipe was bulging, and out poured a sludge-like substance that increasingly got taller until it towered over Izuku. 

“Ah, yes.” it grinned, “You’ll be a fine meat suit. A little small and skinny, but you’ll do.”

Izuku’s instincts kicked in, and he quickly grabbed his own shadow, forming it into a blade. He quickly slashed at the eyes of the villain, guessing that that was his weak point. 

The sludge monster cried out in pain and angrily lept at the small boy— only to be swarmed by a horde of shadows. Even though he was made of sludge, the shadows still cut into him and forced him to cower away. 

And then, a giant figure leapt out of seemingly nowhere and slammed onto the ground. His voice boomed like thunder. “NEVER FEAR, FOR I AM HE— Oh. Looks like you’ve already got him handled.” 

Izuku looked up to see his former idol, All Might, beaming at him. 

“Good work, young man! I’ll just quickly detain this villain, and I’ll be off!”

Huh. That was funny. Izuku had long since given up his obsession with All Might. He had learned, through his own experience, that All Might was constantly putting up a mask. He falsely let others believe that everything was okay, and lied to himself. 

Still, Izuku couldn’t resist. He gulped in a calming breath, though it’s purpose fell flat, and stuttered out: “C-can someone like me, w-with a villainous quirk, I mean, become a… hero?” It came out weak, almost inaudible, but All Might seemed to hear it nonetheless.

All Might pondered for a moment. “Well, young man, if you want to become a hero, then you should most definitely reach for it! However, without a proper quirk, I cannot affirm that you will become one. Give it your best effort, but don’t be upset if it doesn’t work out, okay?” 

Without waiting for a response, All Might gave a wave, shouted out, “I REALLY MUST GO NOW, THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!” and bounded into the sky.

Izuku stood shocked for a second, hair whipping in his face from the force of the jump, before his brain decided to function again. 

_ Of course you can’t become a hero, Idiot! Even All Might believes you can’t do it! _ He frowned and put his notebook back into his backpack. He shouldn’t have even been surprised at this point. All he’d ever been told was that he had a villainous quirk, and that there was no way he could ever become a hero. Izuku didn’t even know why he still tried. 

Slouching his back in defeat, he continued trudging his way back to his house, letting his thoughts take over. 

Distantly, he realized that there was smoke in the air and shouts ringing across the streets. Izuku, being the idiot that he was, wandered over to the smoke-infested area. What he did not expect was the sludge villain, holding another middle-school aged student hostage. 

He stepped in to get a closer view, and realized that the other boy was Bakugou. 

Izuku stood still, shell shocked. His bully, his tormentor, his former friend, was being suffocated right before his eyes. He briefly considered just leaving him there. It wasn’t Izuku’s responsibility to help him, after all, especially after what Bakugou had done to him… but still, his stupid body reacted. Izuku found his legs pounding on the pavement, running  _ towards _ the villain.

Izuku threw his backpack, not wanting to break quirk usage laws. It hit the villain square in the eyes, and his hold over Bakugou weakened for a second. Izuku quickly grabbed the blond’s arm and yanked him out, letting the heroes standing by take care of the villain. 

Within a couple of minutes, the villain was once again contained, and Izuku was being reprimanded for his foolish behavior. He zoned out, too tired to care what the heroes thought. They were there the entire time! And they did  _ nothing _ , just because they just  _ assumed _ that their quirks wouldn’t be able to help. This is why society was so  _ stupid _ ! Everyone believed that absolutely everything revolved around quirks.

They could have helped, for sure. He’d bet that they were all more powerful than he was— and yet, they stood by and did nothing. Some heroes they were. 

Eventually, they let him go, and he quickly walked back. Izuku’s legs felt leaden and his whole body ached. All he wanted was to go home, eat some ramen, and go to sleep.

But he couldn’t allow himself that luxury. He had training to do if he wanted to get into UA. 

_ Idiot! All Might just told you to your face that you can’t become a hero! Why are you even trying anymore?  _

Izuku sighed, rubbing his head. He really didn’t know why. He had a villainous quirk, and no matter how much he tried, everyone had always told him that he couldn’t be a hero, to give up… 

Still. 

He was trying. Even though his own mother had practically given up on him, even though all his classmates treated him like dirt, even though his teachers saw him as nothing more than a waste of space,  _ he was still trying. _

It was irrational.

\----------

To say that Toshinori was surprised would be an understatement. He had just finished dealing with the sludge villain, and he honestly felt bad for the poor young man that had been attacked. 

He had tried his best and properly dealt with the villain, but after being asked what was probably the most important question of his life— Toshinori, a future teacher at a hero academy, had let him down. He had basically said that the young boy could not be a hero without a proper quirk, and could distantly hear the voice in his head whispering  _ “hypocrite” _ . It was dejecting, but he knew that what was done was done. 

He hadn’t wanted the boy to get his hopes up, only for them to be crushed. 

Toshinori was shaken out of his train of thought when someone ran past him, yelling. “Is that smoke? It looks like a villain attack!”

Immediately, he checked his pockets.  _ Shoot. The slime villain got away, somehow! _

Toshinori had no time left… but he could go in his normal form. He followed the man, and saw small clusters of flames around the area in a street. The slime villain was suffocating another young man, who appeared to be in middle school still. 

_ Good going, Toshinori. You didn’t do anything last time, and now you’re out of time. That kid is about to di— _

Suddenly, everyone started shouting. From the back of the crowd, he couldn’t see much, but what he did see astounded him. The young man, whose dreams Toshinori had just crushed, was running full speed at the villain. 

Toshinori could only stay shocked as he saw the boy throw his backpack at the villains eyes (very clever), and reach in to pull the other boy out. Everyone at the scene was screaming, but he could only distantly hear it as he watched the scene in front of him. He had just crushed that boy's hopes and dreams, but here the young man was, the only one doing a single thing about the problem.

Suddenly, Toshinori was ashamed. He was  _ All Might, a _ nd he couldn’t even save that kid himself. Instead, it was left to the middle schooler who he’d just let down. 

Some hero he was.

\-------------

Three hours later, at the not-quite-so-cluttered beach called Dagobah, Izuku brushed off his hands and started heading home. It was already dark, and he knew that he should be getting to bed soon. 

Once he reached his apartment, he silently shut the door behind him and scanned the area. It looked as though his mother was still out, working. Izuku sighed in relief; he really didn’t want his mom to find out he had been out this late. 

He quickly boiled some water and made the ramen while he thought about the day. School was more or less the same, but meeting All Might? Saving his tormentor? Those things were still being processed.

Had he really been torn down by All Might? Did his former idol really just crush his dreams? Had he then, moments later, rushed in to save his childhood friend? His bully, his tormentor, the one who told him to give up on life, and called him useless?

Izuku shook his head. There was no use thinking about that anymore. What had happened was in the past, and although it hurt, Izuku was still going to try. 

He  _ could  _ still be a hero, right?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Entrance exams!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thanks so much for the support so far, I love reading your comments! This chapter will probably be the last short chapter (about 5 pages) for a little bit, mostly because the next few are going to be over twice as long :)  
> Hope you enjoy!

Toshinori stood still by the entrance of UA, caught up in a hurricane of memories. His training, Gran Torino, the sports festivals, his friends, Nana…

“Hello there, Yagi-sama!” Toshinori jumped in surprise. Beneath him was the (rat? Bear? Mouse?) principal of UA, Nezu, talking to him.

“Oh, hello, principal Nezu.” he greeted, bowing. 

“I assume you will be entering the building soon, correct?”

Toshi coughed slightly, then nodded. “Yes, just got caught up in some old memories…”

“Ah, I see. Well then, if you could follow me, I’d be happy to show you the monitor room where we will be presiding the entrance exams. They should be starting very soon,” Nezu replied in his optimistic, squeaky voice.

“Yes, that sounds good.”

\------------------------

Toshinori choked. 

The entrance exam had just started a few minutes prior, and he had been watching some promising individuals. In group A, there was an explosive blond who was tearing his way through the robots, easily rendering them ineffective with his blasts. In B, there was a kid with an engine quirk on his legs (related to Ingenium, perhaps), and a young lady who was lifting up robots with a touch of the hand, sending them slamming to the ground. There were others as well: a vibrant red-head who punched through robots with ease, a boy with what appeared to be an electricity quirk, and some more after that. 

“Lots of good examinees this year,” commented Midnight.

“Yeah,” Vlad King acknowledged with a nod of his head. “Many strong combat quirks. These kids are pretty well prepared.”

“Hey, look at this kid!” Present Mic shouted, pointing at a monitor that was assigned to area B.

Toshinori glanced over to where Mic was pointing. There, running through streets with ease, hopping off of buildings and ripping out the wires of the robots, was a short boy with curly green hair in a black jumpsuit. His fluffy green hair bounced as he ran, and then he stopped in front of one of the robots. There was another on the same street, and right when the robots were about to shoot, he leapt out of the way. 

The robot he had been standing behind was effectively destroyed, and the greenette ran under the legs of the other robot before it had the chance to shoot again. 

He looked familiar enough, and Toshi thought back to a year ago, to when he had met a young man during an encounter with the sludge villain. The kid… he had asked if he could be a hero, and Toshinori had said no. 

Toshinori frowned as he tried to remember. The boy had said something about having a villainous quirk, but he didn’t appear to be using one. 

Although his point count wasn’t too bad— just over 10 and already halfway through the exam— it wasn’t quite enough to pass on it’s own. However, he was also… saving other examiness. As he ran from robot to robot, he paused and went out of his way to stop others from being smashed from concrete that had been broken by other examinees.

Toshi couldn’t keep his eyes off the screen. The boy was fast, that much was true. He was dashing from street to street, occasionally destroying a robot or two. Most of the other examinees at this point had slowed down to catch their breath, but the greenette kept going. He was panting slightly, so his endurance was probably almost at its limit, but he was doing surprisingly well for someone not using a quirk.

While Toshinori continued to gape at the screen like a fish out of water, Nezu apparently decided that the exams were getting too boring, and needed a little spicing up. He pressed an oversized red button, effectively letting out the zero pointers in every area. Toshi could swear the ground trembled even in their room, which had to be a couple hundred meters away, at least. 

The students on the monitors stumbled and looked up in horror at the monstrous robots, quickly trying to flee as fast as they could. Toshinori couldn’t blame them. The robots were at least ten times as big as the kids, fully armed with gigantic weapons. Every move they made seemed to shake the very ground they walked (or rather, ran) on. 

Toshinori released a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding as the students cleared the scene. Well, almost all. 

Midnight hurriedly pointed to a monitor that was assigned to area B. All the teachers looked, and took a collective gasp. Distantly, underneath a pile of rubble left by the zero pointer, was a brunette girl. She appeared to be trying to free herself, but seemed trapped in place. 

“We need to shut down that zero pointer! She’s going to get crushed!”

Toshinori didn’t know who spoke, due to the fact that he couldn’t move. Most, if not all, of the blood in his face had drained right down to his feet. He personally knew how terrifying those robots were. If nobody was going to help her, she could die. She would be crushed—

“Calm down everyone,” Nezu assured, “Look at the screen.”

Toshinori did. Then, he blanched even further. 

\--------------------

Izuku was still trying to process what was happening. All he knew was that the ground had started shaking, and all the other examinees had started running away. He was about to join them, but then he saw a girl trapped under some rubble, with a huge robot rolling straight towards her. 

His legs started moving. 

_ What are you doing?!?! _

He didn’t know. As he got closer, he subconsciously activated his quirk. 

_ You idiot! Why are you using your quirk? You’re gonna hurt her!  _

_ I know, I know! _

Before he knew it, his quirk had gathered on the ground under his feet. As he crouched down, his shadows pushed him up while he jumped. The wind blew in his hair, stinging his eyes as he soared through the air— the ground becoming a distant blur beneath him. 

The robot came barreling swiftly in his direction, and Izuku found himself reaching for his quirk again. The tug in his gut got stronger as he willed the shadows to creep all the way up the huge robot, tethered to his foot. He landed on the shoulder unsteadily, and edged his way to the back of the robot’s head. 

The robot struggled to move, but the shadows held strong. His gut was hurting more now, but he ignored it and reached the back of the neck. He bent down, looking for an opening. The tugging in his gut got stronger, but Izuku just clenched his teeth and ignored it. 

_ There!  _ He found a space between two metal plates, and used his quirk  _ (yet again) _ to force one of them to come off. Then, as fast as he could, Izuku grabbed on to the wires that were clustered around the interior of the zero pointer, and  _ yanked.  _

The robot shuddered, before slowing to a stop. Izuku exhaled out of his mouth heavily. Now that it was down, he could feel the effects of his quirk hitting him. His stomach was revolting against him, and he started to feel light headed from exhaustion. Still, he had to get down.

He crept towards the edge of the robot’s shoulder, and hopped onto the building next to him with a thud. Izuku stumbled for a moment, then steadied himself. From there, he leapt between the heavy robot and the building, until he finally hit solid ground. All he wanted to do was lie down, but decided it would be best to check on the girl who was trapped and make sure she was okay. 

He slowly stumbled his way over to where he remembered the girl was, and crouched down to make sure she was still there, which she was. She was still struggling to free herself, and it took a few seconds for her to realize he was there. 

“Oh, it’s you!” she replied cheerily. 

Izuku was surprised. Her legs were clearly pinned down under heavy concrete, which must have been very painful. And yet, here she was, smiling away and thanking him. 

Izuku shook his head. He hadn’t done anything special; he was sure anyone here would have done the same thing if they saw her as well. 

Ignoring her praise, he got closer to the place where her legs were wedged. 

“What are you doing?” she questioned. 

Izuku bent down beside the rubble she was trapped under, and positioned his hands to grab it solidly from underneath. After doing so, he lifted the rubble off of her with his legs. He grunted slightly, before tossing the cement a few feet away.

“Oh,” she said softly as her legs were freed. “Thanks. Wait, was that shadowy stuff on the robot your quirk?” 

He reluctantly nodded, waiting to hear the usual crap about how villainous his quirk was. What came next surprised him.

“Wow!” she gushed, “That’s so cool! You can work from practically anywhere, and those shadowy thingies look like they could form into anything you want!”

That made Izuku pause. 

Was she… complementing his quirk?  _ His  _ quirk? The dangerous, villainous quirk? Cool? No, she probably didn’t understand how bad of a power it really was. While Izuku was glad he was able to save her from being crushed, he really really wished he didn’t have to use his quirk to do it.

He zoned out for a second, suddenly becoming very aware of how tired he was. Still, he supposed that he had dealt with worse, so he continued to ignore it. 

“—and you were like,  _ whabang _ ! And the robot went  _ bbrrrr _ and died!” She was still sitting on the ground, legs bruised and bleeding, but she held that bright smile on her round face. “You were so cool! Thank you again for saving me.” 

Izuku looked at his feet, unused to such praise. 

“Oh, and my name is Uraraka Ochako, by the way!” She smiled. “It’s very nice to meet you.”


	4. Chapter 4

It would take a week for the exam results to come out. Seven whole days. 168 long hours. 10 080 painstaking minutes. The week felt both impossibly long, and incredibly short at the same time. Classes were more or less the same, except that Bakugou was even more angry than usual— if that was even possible. The only relief Izuku had was his training. 

He spent even more time than usual on it, but had to improvise a little because Dagobah beach was finally clean, with who-knew-how-many years of junk and garbage littering it finally gone. Izuku supposed it could have been worse— after all, it only took him about a year to get rid of it all.

Still, the week seemed to drag on. Izuku knew that he had done well, but he still couldn’t seem to shake his nerves. What if he had done something wrong? What if the amount of points he got weren’t enough to make it? What if he just downright  _ failed _ ? That would just prove that everything everyone ever told him was true. All of his efforts, all of his hard work, all of his determination to “swim upriver” and succeed— it would be a waste. 

So, as one could imagine, he was a nervous wreck. 

\----------------

It was late Friday when the letter finally came. 

Izuku’s mother was home, so he made sure to be quiet while he grabbed it, before silently creeping back into his room to open it. It seemed to weigh more than a usual paper letter would, so Izuku was wary. He took in a deep breath.

He could do this.

Izuku tore it open with a flick of his wrist, and a silver disk fell onto his desk. Curious, he took it in his hand and examined it cautiously, when it suddenly lit up. Shocked, Izuku dropped it with a heavy thud. He cringed, listening for his mother. She didn’t seem to hear it, and he exhaled in relief. 

“ _ HELLO THERE! IT IS ME, ALL MIGHT, COMING IN AS A PROJECTION!” _

Oh good. Just the hero he wanted to see. The one who basically told him to give up on his dreams. Just great. 

_ “YOUNG MIDORIYA, YOU DID VERY WELL ON THE WRITTEN EXAM, SCORING AN OUTSTANDING 96! YOU MOST CERTAINLY PASSED!” _

He couldn’t say he was particularly surprised, given that he’d spent months studying and even getting ahead on some online courses he had found. Despite that, it was reassuring to hear it.

_ “NOW, FOR THE PRACTICAL!” _

Izuku held his breath. This was it. This was the moment that decided his entire future. 

_ “YOU SCORED A GRAND TOTAL OF 15 VILLAIN POINTS ON THE EXAM! AS YOU CAN PROBABLY TELL, THIS IS NOT THE HIGHEST SCORE OUT THERE. THE CUTOFF TO MAKE THE HERO COURSE WAS 30 POINTS, AND YOU DID NOT MAKE THE CUT.” _

Izuku’s breath stuck in his throat. He had known, in the back of his mind, that his total score was not going to be the highest, or even close to that. But to hear it out loud… It hurt. Tears started to well in the corner of his eyes, and he dropped his head in silent shame.

_ “HOWEVER, THAT IS NOT ALL THAT THERE WAS TO THE EXAM.”  _ All Might’s voice boomed from the hologram, and Izuku’s head shot up in shock. 

_ “THERE WERE OTHER POINTS THAT WERE NEVER ANNOUNCED.”  _ All Might paused dramatically. “...  _ RESCUE POINTS.” _

Izuku’s mind spun in thought.  _ Wait… what?! There were rescue points?! I suppose that makes sense, given that this was a hero course exam, and some heroes specialize in rescue… _

_ “FOR THIS PORTION OF THE EXAM, YOUNG MIDORIYA, YOU DID OUTSTANDINGLY WELL.”  _ The screen cut to what appeared to be recordings of the exam. He could see himself diving in to save other examinees from falling rubble, before it cut to him on the back of a robot, sweat dripping down his face. He ripped out the wires, making the robot stutter to a stop. It then cut to him again, bending down and freeing a girl— Uraraka, he distantly remembered.

“ _ THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRETY OF THE EXAM, YOU SHOWED GREAT PROMISE FOR HERO WORK. YOU DID NOT HESITATE TO HELP THOSE AROUND YOU, AND FOR THAT YOU WERE GIVEN,”  _ He paused dramatically again, “ _ … 80 RESCUE POINTS, GIVING YOU 95 POINTS IN TOTAL. THAT PUTS YOU IN FIRST PLACE. CONGRATULATIONS, THIS IS YOUR HERO ACADEMIA.” _

The hologram flashed to UA’s school logo, then went black and closed up. 

Izuku sat there, for one moment, then two. Eventually, his brain decided to start working again. He would have started whooping with joy, but he didn’t want to disturb his mother. Instead, he just smiled softly to himself. He had done it. 

He could be a hero!

\------------------------

Izuku woke up feeling both exhausted and yet exhilarated at the same time. He had to grab onto the metal disk to make sure that he hadn’t dreamt it, running his thumb along the smooth surface to calm himself. It felt solid in his hand— a confirmation that everything was actually real. He had made it into U.A., a school widely known for its production of well-ranked heroes. In the hero course, no less. 

That still didn’t reassure him, though. This didn’t change the fact that he had a bad quirk, that he couldn’t go anywhere in life, that he was a failure, a deku. 

He shook himself out of that train of thought, somehow, and glanced at his phone to check the time. 

_ 4:27 a.m..  _ Figures _.  _

Well, if he was up, he probably wasn’t going back to sleep anytime soon, so he decided to just get ready. He put on a regular t-shirt and some sweatpants, before setting out. 

The sun still hadn’t risen yet, but there was enough light to see by. He jogged around a predetermined course that went through small patches of trees and other unnoticeable places. About an hour later, Izuku slowed to a walk and headed back to his apartment. 

His nerves were starting to catch up with him (as they had been all week), but he wouldn’t let that get to him. He had a high school to attend… although he wasn’t looking forward to meeting new classmates. They were going to be just like everyone else, he just knew it, but that was okay. He was used to it. He had learned over the years how to block away emotion, so it wasn’t a big deal anymore. 

Still, though, he was nervous. Izuku crept back into the house, and hurriedly got dressed. It took him a little while to figure out how to do his neck tie (and even then, it was horrendous), but that was the best that he could do. He triple checked his bag, making sure he had all his supplies, before he slunk out of the house.

He knew that his mother was there, but he really didn’t want to have to put up with her. She knew that he wanted to be a hero, but she never  _ understood _ . 

His mother still loved him, of course, she just didn’t ever… show her support. She thought the same things that everyone else did: that he had a villainous quirk. He knew; he could see the fear of it in her eyes— but she still loved him, and that was about all he could ask for. 

\------------------

Izuku had expected to get lost in the ginormous halls of UA, but in reality it only took him a few minutes to find his homeroom. For one thing, its door was bright red with a big “1-A” at the front, and for another, it was at  _ least _ ten feet tall (most likely for mutation quirks). It all seemed a little excessive, but, well, this  _ was _ UA. 

Taking a deep breath and steeling himself (please don’t be Bakugou,  _ please _ don’t be Bakugou), Izuku carefully, yet firmly, pushed open the bright red door. 

Inside was a scene of chaos. Bakugou was sitting at the opposite side of the classroom (of course he was in this class, wasn’t that just  _ fantastic)  _ with his feet on his desk, and there was another boy with navy blue hair, broad shoulders, and glasses who seemed to be scolding the explosive blond. There were other people too, which already seemed to have formed connections and friend groups. 

“Um, excuse me… ” 

Izuku jumped, turning around to see the brunette from the entrance exam— Uraraka— right behind him, obviously blocked by him standing in the doorway. He turned slightly to open up the doorway, and bowed his head in a silent apology, mentally berating himself for zoning out. 

“ _ Oh _ ! It’s you! The plain looking kid!” She grinned. “I’m really glad you made it in! You definitely deserved to, seeing as how you destroyed that zero pointer and all.” A couple of their classmates turned to look at him in shock at that. They didn’t speak, but it was obvious from the looks on their faces that they were really impressed. 

Izuku noticed this attention, and lowered his head to look at the ground, shaking it slightly. They all looked nice so far, but Izuku had enough experience with bullies to know that looks could be deceiving. 

“Woah, dude! That is so cool!” said a spiky redhead who had approached. “Those zero pointers were huge, how did you manage to take one down?” He seemed really enthusiastic, and was getting very close to Izuku’s personal space. Izuku immediately took a step back. The redhead, luckily, seemed to notice how uncomfortable he was, and backed off a bit. “Anyway, my name’s Kirishima Eijirou. It’s nice to meetcha!” 

He stuck out a hand, to which Izuku tentatively took. He had a firm grip, and his fingers were calloused and strong— but the way he shook Izuku’s hand seemed almost comforting, in a way. 

“Midoriya Izuku, likewise,” he mumbled. 

“OI! Deku! What do you think you're doing here, you worthless nobody! How did you make it into this school, huh?” 

Great. It seemed that Bakugou had noticed his presence, as had everyone else in the room. Izuku ducked his head in shame, resigned to his fate. 

Kirishima took a visible step to the side. He was standing right in front of Izuku, blocking him from Bakugou.

_ Uh— _

“Hey, that’s not very nice!” Uraraka shouted, raising her arm up by Izuku. 

_ Wait— _

“Yeah, not manly at all!”

It was Kirishima and Uraraka. Defending him. 

_ What— _

“This is a classroom, not a playground. Unless you would like to be expelled, I would advise you to  _ sit down.” _

Everyone collectively stopped what they were doing, and looked down to see a... yellow something speaking to them harshly from the ground. Said thing then proceeded to stand up, revealing a man with a scruff face with bloodshot eyes and long black hair. It appeared to be just someone in a sleeping bag.

Upon realizing that fact, everyone promptly scrambled to their seats, and looked straight-backed towards their (probably) homeroom teacher. “It took you all ten seconds to quiet down and sit— that time must be improved, understood?” They all nodded in affirmation. “Good. I am your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shouta. Welcome to UA, Plus Ultra and all that nonsense. Now,” he pulled out a big bunch of fabric. “Put these on and meet me outside in ten minutes. Go.” He dropped the uniforms on the floor, and promptly left the room. 

The entire class sat there for a moment, shell shocked, before a collective “WHAT?!” echoed loudly through the classroom. 

\--------------

Ten minutes later found Izuku and his classmates standing by a field that seemed to have regular training equipment. Many people were busy conversing with each other, probably about what the day ahead held for them. Izuku didn’t quite know what to do in this situation, so he decided to stay quiet and focus on what they were going to do in the field. 

It looked as though Kirishima and Uraraka wanted to talk with him, but before they got the chance to, their teacher cleared his throat. 

“Welcome to your first day of UA high school. Instead of attending the opening ceremony like all of the other classes, we will be doing a quirk assessment test.” Everyone glanced around warily. “Bakugou,” their teacher announced, “Come here.” 

Bakugou approached with an air of confidence around him, and Aizawa-sensei handed him a baseball. 

“What was your top score for the ball throw in middle school?” Their teacher questioned.

“67 meters,” the blond responded begrudgingly. 

“Okay. I want you to throw the ball as far as you can using your quirk. You can do whatever you want, just don’t go outside of the circle.”

Bakugou grinned sadistically before rearing his right arm back, and brought it forward with a shout. “ _ DIE!!!! _ ” The force of the throw brought a wave of heat across the class, and hair whipped in their faces. 

Aizawa brought up a black device, and let it load for a few seconds before reading: “ _ 704.5 meters.” _

“Woah, that’s insane!” a brave soul shouted, though the rest of the class was thinking the same thing. 

“This is gonna be fun!” a pink girl shouted. 

Their teacher’s face immediately darkened. “You are heroes in training.” he spat, looking disgusted. “You are not here to have fun. In the real world as pro heroes, you constantly stand in risk of failure. You know what?” His eyes shone red. “Let’s make this interesting. The person to get the lowest scored will be expelled.”

That seemed to sober the class, and their faces set with newfound determination. 

\-------------------

The tests consisted of a 50 meter sprint: a grip test, long jump, side step, a long distance run, sit-ups, and, of course, the ball throw. 

Izuku seemed pretty happy with his results. He was consistently in the top half of the class, but did particularly well in the long distance run (placing third in total), grip test (second in total), and sit ups (first in total). He deemed it good enough, especially considering that he didn’t use a quirk. But then again, what good would his quirk do in those tests? 

(He could have used it to increase his speed, to handle his strength, to push him up and make him jump higher, but he wouldn’t admit that.)

All that aside, his classmates were, of course, amazing. This was the top school in the country, after all. And their quirks! They were so interesting and powerful. Uraraka’s quirk, on the ball throw, gave her the new top score of infinity. Izuku’s hand begged him to write down everything he saw, but, unfortunately, he hadn’t brought his notebook with him. 

“Midoriya,” their teacher called.

Izuku approached, nervous. His teacher had this… air around him. It seemed almost intimidating, dark. Instead of focusing on it, Izuku opted to ignore him, and stepped into the pitch. He mentally prepped himself, before bringing back his arm to give his hardest throw. 

“Midoriya.” His arm stopped mid swing, and he turned to face Aizawa. “Why haven’t you used your quirk.” It wasn’t exactly a question; it sounded more like a fact. 

Crap. 

He could make up an excuse. His quirk just wasn’t suitable for these tests, wasn’t it? Yeah, he could use that. 

“Um,” he swallowed. “M-my quirk is-isn’t very s-suitable for these t-tests,” he managed to stutter out. His voice was small.

His teacher gave him a harsh glare. “No, it’s not. I’ve read your files, Midoriya. Your quirk, Corrosive Shadow, is potentially dangerous towards others, but has limitless other uses. It sounds very strong and versatile. You could have used it in practically all of these tests, but you didn’t.” His eyes glowed red for a second, but that could’ve just been Izuku’s imagination. “Use your quirk on the ball throw.” 

This wasn’t a suggestion, it was a command. 

Izuku flinched, but the movement was so small surely no one noticed it.

(Aizawa did.)

He took in a deep breath, and let it out. Sweat slid down the side of his face, and his heart beat wildly. He reached for his quirk, and the slightly unfamiliar sensation pulled at his gut. He really,  _ really  _ didn’t want to use his quirk. Only bad things had happened around it. 

_ Deal with it,  _ he mentally berated himself,  _ just use the darn quirk and get it over with. Quit being a baby.  _

His quirk rose up at his command, breaching out from his own shadow, and he heard his classmates softly gasp behind him. He opted to ignore them, and gently set the ball down where the quirk was waiting. The quirk closed around the ball, and reared back. Izuku forced himself to concentrate. The shadow extended back a few feet, then shot forward like a catapult. The ball soared through the air, at a height that astonished even Izuku. 

He waited with bated breath, subconsciously letting his quirk go. Aizawa held the black device in front of him, before reading the score. The teacher paused. “789.2 meters,” he said, monotone. 

The class erupted. 

“Woah, that’s even higher than Bakugou’s!”

“What was that quirk? It looked really cool!”

The only people that remained silent were Bakugou, and, of course, Izuku. Bakugou looked upset, but Izuku could guess why. All his life he had been treated like the best, and now, someone he’d brought down consistently, was doing better than him. It must hurt.

Izuku was embarrassed at the praise— but he was mostly disappointed in himself for having to use his quirk at all. He knew that his classmates would find out eventually, but he didn’t want it to have been on the first day. It would ruin any chance of friendship he might’ve had. 

Except, when Izuku thought about it, his classmates weren’t berating him. They seemed… impressed. Not that that changed a single thing about his quirk— but it still felt kind of nice to hear. 

\------------------

In the end, no one was really expelled.

Hagakure had gotten last place, seeing (or not seeing) that her quirk was simply invisibility, but she was still in school at the end of the day. It was an incredibly useful quirk for rescues and the sort, just not for physical exercise. At the announcement that she wasn’t being expelled, she had sounded like she was crying in relief. 

Aizawa had called it a “logical ruse to get them to put in their best efforts,” but Izuku had the feeling that, if one of them didn’t show enough dedication, he would have actually expelled them. For some reason, the thought that he’d threatened them, only to change his mind or even lie about it, made Izuku angry. He didn’t understand the purpose of lying to his students in order to push them to try their best. There were other ways to go about it.

That was their only class for the day, and all of the other classes had just finished orientation and introductions.That meant it was only about half a day of school, but Izuku wasn’t complaining. He could head back to the beach and train, or even better: sleep. He still wasn’t sure what to think about his classmates, about his teacher, or even about his own quirk. But since he could go home, he would be left alone with his thoughts. 

He was about to leave the school grounds, when he heard a “Midori, wait!”

He was confused at the name, but assumed that the person was referring to him, so he turned around. It was Uraraka. Oh. She seemed nice. A little over eccentric, sure, but she didn’t seem to pose any threat. 

Uraraka was walking towards him now, with a grin highlighting her features. “Are you headed to the train station?” She asked. 

Izuku nodded. 

“Oh nice! I’m headed there too, mind if I come with?” He didn’t see why not, so he nodded again.

Izuku was about to turn around and start walking away, when someone else approached. “Hey, Midoriya, Uraraka! Can I come with you?”

It was Kirishima, the redhead. He also seemed… pleasant. He was loud, brash, and had been going on about being “manly” all day, but he seemed like a genuinely nice person. 

Uraraka looked to Izuku to verify, and he nodded. 

“Sure!” she replied happily. 

They started walking at a leisurely pace; Uraraka and Kirishima conversing, while Izuku just observed. Izuku was… weirdly comfortable with this. Sure, he wasn’t used to other people hanging around with him like this, but it felt nice. Uraraka and Kirishima were both very outgoing people, and both seemed to want to be in his company. Izuku let a soft smile light his features at the thought. He wasn’t sure how long this would last, but he would take what he could get. 

\---------------

Shouta groaned as he opened the door to his apartment. His cats, Simba and Loki (Yamada named them, against Shouta’s best wishes) greeted him as soon as he entered. Shouta bent down to pet them lightly on the head, causing them to nuzzle against his hand. 

He enjoyed the peace of the moment, before going right back to more pressing matters. 

His class. 

Normally, his students were cocky, overconfident youths who needed to be put in their place, which is why he usually expelled most of the students he got. This year's class though…

They were different. Everyone had shown potential in one way or another. 

But then came the problem children. Yes, children. Plural. 

First off, there was Todoroki Shouto, son of Endeavor. His control over his right side was incredible. He had used it to boost himself through the sprints, to get higher distances in jumps, and so much more. But his control was almost  _ too  _ good for someone his age. It seemed far-fetched, but Shouta had always had his suspicions about Endeavor, and Todoroki’s stoic behavior seemed to point towards something more. Which was where there was the other problem. 

Todoroki seemed to refuse to use his left side, his fire side, at all. It was very suspicious, especially seeing as how his father was the flame hero, and Shouta reminded himself to bring this up to Nezu later. 

Then came Shinsou Hitoshi. First of all, he looked almost as sleep deprived as Shouta, and that was saying something. His quirk, though, appeared very useful for hero work in general. Talking villains out of hostage situations, getting information out of them without brutality, and easily a million other various uses to take down villains without resorting to violence. 

He hadn’t used his quirk today, though. He could’ve. Yaoyorozu had made a bicycle to go through the long distance run (a very clever move) and Shinsou could’ve easily brainwashed her into giving it to him, but he didn’t. Shouta sighed; he would have to bring this issue up to Nezu as well. 

And then came the one who would most likely be his most problematic problem child. Midoriya Izuku. 

Shouta hadn’t been lying when he had told Midoriya that he had a versatile quirk. He did. It could be incredibly useful in any situation, especially for combat. Adding to that, it appeared as though Midoriya could use it as long as there was light to cast shadows from, which was pretty much everywhere he went. He could’ve used it in practically any of the tests today, and Shouta had to call him out in front of the whole class to get him to use it. 

But, of course, he was a problem child. 

Midoriya seemed to detest his quirk. When Shouta had asked (commanded) him to use his quirk, his eyes had briefly lit up with a look of hatred and loathing. Shouta had his suspicions; it most likely had to do with bullying. He knew how prevalent quirk discrimination was in society, and it probably wouldn’t get any better soon. That’s just how it was. 

Well, either way, he’d look into it. 

After all, these were his kids now. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope y’all enjoyed!
> 
> In this chapter I had Bakugou do the ball throw because he got the highest amount of villain points.  
> Yeah, let’s go with that *nervous sweat*


	5. Chapter 5

The second day of UA started uneventfully. 

They had English, Math, and heroics history, all of which were taught by pro heroes. Everyone started their classes with a flashy entrance, causing the students to gasp and break out into cheers, though Izuku didn’t really understand why. This  _ was  _ UA, the top hero school in the country. Why  _ wouldn’t  _ pro heroes be teaching their classes? 

Still, though, it  _ was _ pretty cool. 

After lunch (Izuku sat with Uraraka and Kirishima, at their insistence), they had their first heroics class. The whole class was buzzing with excitement, though some were wary. They had good cause, considering their heroics class the previous day. 

“I AM….” a big figure with a head of golden hair rushed into the doorway. “ENTERING THE ROOM LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!”

Everyone turned to see their teacher and started standing up, shouting over one another. 

“Wow!!! It really is All Might!”

“I didn’t know if the rumors were true, but they are!”

“He’s even cooler in person!”

Almost the entire class was on their feet at this point, staring in shock and amazement. Personally, Izuku wasn’t too fond of the man. Not just because he had practically crushed Izuku’s hopes and dreams, but because he had told him lies. All Might always had his signature smile on his face that said, _ “Don’t worry, I’m here!” _ , but Izuku always felt like that smile was fake. That he was lying to everyone, including himself.

Izuku shook his head slightly, shifting his attention back to their teacher. 

“GRAB YOUR HERO COSTUMES—” He opened a shelf in the wall to reveal them—“AND MEET ME AT FIELD GAMMA.” 

The whole class rushed to their feet, looking for their costumes. Izuku stayed at the back, content with waiting his turn, when a taller boy with what looked like a couple of pairs of arms on him gently handed Izuku his own case. He stared at the other boy in confusion, before quietly nodding his thanks. 

That was weird.

\-------------------

As Izuku walked towards the field, he saw Uraraka approach him with an enthusiastic wave. 

“Hey, Midori! That costume looks really cool!” she shouted.

“This?” he asked, looking down at his outfit. Weeks before, when Izuku had been asked to design his hero costume, he had come up blank. With nothing in mind, he ended up just sketching out a thin black jumpsuit with a hood that would fit somewhat snugly to allow for maximum movement. 

As he examined the outfit in front of him, he could see accents of mint green along the sides, which were probably added in by the support department to add some more flair. In addition to that, he also had green highlights running up his gloves, which went up to his elbows— where he had bracers for extra support. The iron soles he’d requested to be put on the bottom of his black boots fit nicely too. 

The whole look seemed very simplistic, but Izuku didn’t have anything special to add for his quirk (not that he’d use it anyway), so that was all that he got. 

He nodded at her. “Thanks,” he mumbled, “I like yours too. It has a nice space theme to it.”

“Oh, thanks! It’s a bit more skin-tight than I had hoped for, though…” she trailed off, scratching the back of her head. 

He was about to reply, when All Might started talking.

“GOOD AFTERNOON, EVERYONE! FOR TODAY’S EXERCISE, YOU WILL BE DOING COMBAT FIGHTING IN TEAMS.” his loud, booming voice told them. He glanced down at a sheet of paper he was holding— instructions, most likely. “YOU WILL EACH BE SORTED INTO PAIRS RANDOMLY. THERE WILL BE A HERO TEAM AND A VILLAIN TEAM. THE VILLAIN TEAM WILL TRY TO PROTECT THE BOMB THAT WILL BE INSIDE THE BUILDING FOR THE DURATION OF THE BATTLE, OR SUCCESSFULLY CAPTURE THE HEROES.

“THE HEROES WILL TRY TO EITHER FIND THE BOMB, OR CAPTURE THE VILLAINS. THE HERO TEAM WILL HAVE FIVE MINUTES TO STUDY THE STRUCTURE OF THE BUILDING AND THINK OF A PLAN, WHILE THE VILLAINS PLACE THE BOMB AND PLAN OUT THEIR STRATEGY.” He stopped and looked around. “ANY QUESTIONS?”

“Sir!” A broad backed, navy haired boy shouted as he raised his arm straight up. “Why will the teams be decided at random? Don’t heroes get to choose their partnerships?”

“AN EXCELLENT QUESTION, YOUNG IIDA. NOW, DOES ANYONE KNOW THE ANSWER?”

A girl with black hair and a rather revealing red costume raised her hand. 

“YES, YOUNG YAOYOROZU?”

“Sir, hero teams will often be picked randomly, and quite often with people we do not know. This will help simulate that.” She spoke in a calm, clear voice. 

“VERY WELL DONE! THAT IS EXACTLY THE REASON! NOW FOR THE TEAMS!”

\--------------------

Izuku was in the first group. He was partnered with someone named Kouda Kouji, and they were villains. Of course. What else would he get? They were against Tokoyami Fumikage and Shinsou Hitoshi. During yesterday’s fitness test, he’d had a chance to see everyone’s quirks, but he still wasn’t very good with names. He  _ did  _ know Tokoyami’s quirk for sure, though; he seemed to have a sentient shadow that came from his body. A quirk not unlike his own, but still had better uses and potential.

For the other two, however, Izuku was clueless.

All Might instructed them to get into their positions, so Izuku headed to the building, not knowing where to look for his partner. Suddenly, there was a tap on his shoulder. Izuku spun around, slightly startled. Standing in front of him was a boy a decent amount taller than him. He had a weirdly shaped head, almost rock like, and looked rather nervous. 

_ ‘Do you sign?’  _ The boy signed to him. Wait… signed? He knew Sign?

_ ‘Yes, I do,’ _ Izuku was quick to respond. ‘ _ How did you know?’ _

_ ‘I saw you signing to yourself yesterday during our fitness test.’  _

Oh. Now that Izuku thought of it, he could recall himself subconsciously signing to himself. His thoughts on classmates' quirks, most likely.

_ ‘Yeah, sorry about that. Nervous habit, I suppose.’  _

The other boy was quick to shake his head. ‘ _ No need to apologize, we all have our ways of dealing with stress.’  _ His signing looked fluent and well practiced. 

_ ‘Can I ask why you know JSL?’ _

_ ‘I’m selectively mute. You?’ _

_ ‘Mine is kind of the same. I talk, but only when I need to. It’s better to stay quiet and unnoticed.’  _ Izuku paused for a second before asking, ‘ _ I’m sorry, but I don’t know your name?’  _ He felt slightly stupid for not asking sooner. 

_ ‘No no, that is my fault. My name is Kouda Kouji, and you’re Midoriya Izuku, right?’ _

Izuku nodded his head. ‘ _ It’s nice to meet you.’ _

By that time, the duo had reached the building. They climbed the steps to the appropriate floor, then crouched down by each other. 

They signed back and forth for a bit, getting to know each other’s quirks. Kouda’s quirk was extremely useful. He could communicate with animals, and often get them to work with him. In this environment, however, there wasn’t a lot Kouda could do. Attract some insects, maybe?

Izuku paused for a moment. Kouda seemed nice and timid, which was almost a relief from all of their enthusiastic classmates. It surprised Izuku that he was already pretty comfortable with Kouda as well. He thought for a little while, then raised his hands to sign. 

_ ‘So, I have an idea for a strategy....’ _

\-----------------------------

They had barely finished setting up when an alarm rang through the building.

“ _ TIME’S UP! HERO TEAM, MOVE IN!”  _ All Might cried, booming through the loudspeaker. 

Izuku and Kouda were on the third floor, waiting for the hero team to come up to them. It took them a few tense minutes before they heard footsteps approaching from the stairwell. Izuku glanced at Kouda, and they both nodded. 

Tokoyami and Shinsou burst through the door, rushing in to attack. It seemed they already had a strategy, as Tokoyami ran towards Izuku while Shinsou went to Kouda. 

Izuku, sensing a fight, dug his heels into the ground, and sprang forwards. He threw a punch, but Tokoyami swiftly dodged to the side. It looked like Tokoyami didn’t want to use Dark Shadow, however, most likely due to the nature of Izuku’s quirk. Izuku wasn’t too bothered by this. He hadn’t planned on using his own quirk in the first place.

So they both relied solely on hand-to-hand. Izuku stayed on the offensive for the most part, with Tokoyami dodging. Every few hits, Izuku dodged out of the way and attempted to grab Tokoyami, but the bird-headed boy was vigilant and evaded every attempt at an attack. It was almost like a fast paced dance, with swift, flowing movements.

Although Tokoyami was swift in dodging most of his attacks, Izuku wouldn’t let that stop him. Instead of getting exhausted, he pushed faster and faster, increasing the speed of his punches and kicks. He didn’t even let himself get distracted by Kouda’s fight with Shinsou; he was confident enough in his partner’s abilities. 

Izuku’s strategy seemed to be working. Tokoyami was panting from exertion, and started to use more underhanded tactics to try getting the upper hand. Just as Izuku thought he could pin down the other, Tokoyami seemed to get desperate, and pulled out Dark Shadow. But something wasn’t right. He was… enormous. Bigger than Izuku or Tokoyami, easily. Izuku paused for a moment in shock, and Tokoyami used that to his advantage. 

Dark Shadow lunged. Fast. It grew even bigger, and before Izuku could blink, Dark Shadow surrounded him. 

Izuku gasped in a desperate breath. It was dark.  _ Too _ dark. He couldn’t see. 

Fear crept up his throat. 

He was trapped.

\---------------

_ Dark.  _

_ He was in a closet, his classmates laughing at him from the outside.  _

_ “Ha!” They taunted. “Stupid Deku! Stay in there, and be with your horrible quirk! Useless!” _

_ The click of a lock. _

_ “H-hey, guys?” He asked, voice wobbly. “Can you let me out? P-please?” _

_ Mocking laughter.  _

_ Footsteps faded away.  _

_ Izuku pounded his fists on the door, begging to be let out. He was sure that some teachers were still around. He was sure that they could hear him, and yet… nobody was coming to help him.  _

_ Eventually, his voice gave out after a few hours and he stopped asking for help.  _

_ The only comfort he had was the light shining through the small crack underneath the door.  _

_ But, as all things were, even that comfort was taken away from him.  _

_ The lights went out. _

_ Darkness. No light, nothing. Just him. Him and his quirk. The one that caused him nothing but pain. He couldn’t get out. Couldn’t do  _ anything. 

_ Hours passed, and he sat there by himself in the dark.  _

_ Alone, he cried in a broken voice. _

\--------------

Izuku couldn’t _ breathe.  _ Why couldn’t he breathe? He tried desperately to grab a breath, anything, but nothing worked. 

He tried to shake the images of his past from his head, locking them in a mental box to never be opened— but they remained there, cemented in his mind. 

And Izuku couldn’t _ breathe.  _

His legs gave out on him, and he stumbled onto the ground. He reached out blindly, searching for a source of comfort, but found no relief. 

Where was he again? He couldn’t remember. The only thing he knew was the dark. Only dark. Nothing else. 

He curled up in a ball, hugging his knees tightly, and screamed _.  _

\----------------

Ochaco stood with her classmates, watching the monitor. The exercise had been going well so far. Both sides seemed to have valid strategies, and were currently battling one on one. 

Shinsou was fighting Kouda, and both of them were doing decently. Kouda, with a nervous kind of expression, had asked some insects to distract Shinsou, which worked well. The bugs seemed to bother the purple-haired boy, but Shinsou handled it rather efficiently; the way he moved as he fought them seemed well thought-out and practiced.

Ochaco could also see him speaking, though she couldn’t tell what, as the students only had access to the visuals. Kouda didn’t seem to reply. Although Shinsou looked frustrated by this, he continued to fight competently, to the point where he was almost overpowering Kouda. 

Meanwhile, Midoriya was fighting Tokoyami. Ochaco still wasn’t quite sure what to think of Midoriya, but she definitely knew that she liked him. The determined look in his eyes inspired her, as well as his actions during the entrance exam. He was rather short, and seemed to be really thin. His face was unusually apathetic. He had dark bags beneath his eyes and he didn’t seem to display many emotions, but that was fine. She was sure he had his reasons, and didn’t push him about it.

Still, he was amazing. He moved through his fight with Tokoyami with ease. She knew he was strong, from his test results from the previous days, but seeing it here was completely different. When he had finally managed to land a hit on Tokoyami (the bird-headed boy was really good at dodging), he hit him  _ hard.  _ Every fist had Tokoyami stumbling and looking more beat down. 

Right as Ochako was sure that Midoriya was going to beat Tokoyami, Tokoyami released his quirk and formed a ball of… shadow? Around Midoriya. Tokoyami looked triumphant for a moment, but then his eyes widened in surprise. 

Ochaco couldn’t hear what was going on, but she wished she could. Whatever was happening was not something they could hear. Ochaco glanced around at her classmates, who were also watching the screen with concern. 

She turned back, and saw Tokoyami release his quirk in surprise. Immediately, Ochako understood why. Midoriya was sitting in a ball on the ground. His head was on his knees, and he appeared to be shaking. What happened? Just a moment ago, he had been fighting with confidence, and now he looked beat down. 

Tokoyami appeared to say something to Midoriya, crouching down to make sure the smaller boy was alright, when the greenette jumped up, looking startled. Sweat and tears dripped down his face, and his eyes looked… horrified, to say the least. 

Midoriya shook his head frantically, before bolting to the back of the room. 

Kouda and Shinsou had both stopped, probably due to the noise that apparently occurred, watching Midoriya and Tokoyami with caution. After reaching the back of the room, Midoriya turned around, looking at Kouda and moving his arms around really fast. Sign language, she bet. It seemed like Midoriya was a quiet person, and he looked more comfortable signing. Maybe she should start learning some. 

She focused her eyes on the screen. Kouda nodded his head in understanding, signed something back, and the both of them raced to the stairwell. Shinsou and Tokoyami looked to be talking to each other for a moment, before turning their heels and chasing after them.

\----------------

Izuku felt  _ horrible.  _

He didn’t quite know why he had that reaction to being in the dark, but nonetheless, he was shaken by it. Air only came in short gasps, and his lungs were unwilling to take deep breaths, which made it hard to run up the stairs. He had a lump in his throat he couldn’t quite swallow. Sweat clammed up his skin, and he couldn’t calm his racing heart. He was still shaken by overwhelming fear, and he felt much more jumpy than usual. 

_ Oh really. Just how pathetic are you? Being afraid of the dark? What a useless loser.  _

Izuku shook his head to clear his thoughts, and focused more on the present. He and Kouda finished running up the flight of stairs, and opened the door to get into the fifth floor. 

The entire room was absolutely trashed. Earlier, the two of them had taken everything they’d found on the floor and scattered it. Desks were overturned, trash cans were emptied, everything. 

Izuku turned and looked at Kouda. ‘ _ Ready?’  _ He signed.

Kouda nodded his head in response. They both took up fighting stances once more, and waited with bated breath for Tokoyami and Shinsou to arrive. 

Just a few moments later, they barged in, just like Izuku knew they would. He had figured that once he and Kouda fled the third floor, that they would think that the duo would head straight towards the bomb to defend it. 

They got straight into it this time, as one big group. Izuku had to admit, both of his opponents were formidable. Shinsou and Tokoyami both fought with practiced ease, and worked to each other's advantages. Shinsou was excellent in hand-to-hand, so he primarily stayed on the front lines, going fist to fist with Izuku and Kouda. Meanwhile, Tokoyami provided additional support from behind, only using Dark Shadow when absolutely necessary. 

Izuku threw a fast punch at Shinsou, who swiftly evaded and kicked towards the back of Izuku’s knees. Izuku jumped, using the momentum to try and land a hit on Shinsou’s ribs. Shinsou parried expertly, before jabbing an elbow towards Izuku. 

Kouda intercepted with his arm and used his strength to throw Shinsou a few feet away. Shinsou caught himself, then sprang right back into action. Tokoyami had slunk into the shadows, hoping to remain unnoticed, but Izuku caught him moving from the corner of his eye.

Izuku sprinted towards Tokoyami, trusting Kouda to handle Shinsou for a little while. His feet pounded on the ground, but Tokoyami reached the doorway first. It had been very obviously blocked off using some extra furniture around the room, and it seemed as if Tokoyami had noticed. He beckoned Dark Shadow forward, before knocking aside the blockade. Izuku reached forward with his hand to stop the bird-headed boy, but it was too late. 

Tokoyami burst into the room, looking around— just as Shinsou had managed to get the slip on Kouda, and ran right into the room after him. He stopped in the middle of the room, and the two of them looked like a pair of fish out of water. The room was empty.

_ Perfect,  _ thought Izuku.  _ All according to plan.  _

Kouda ran through the doorway, and joined Izuku in blocking the only exit out. Shinsou and Tokoyami whirled around to face them, shock still lighting their features. Then, they seemed to make up their minds, and charged. 

Izuku and Kouda didn’t even try to defend; they knew they had won already. Izuku mentally counted down:  _ 4, 3, 2, 1… _

An alarm rang clearly through the building, causing Shinsou and Tokoyami to stop mid-run. 

“ _ AND THAT’S TIME UP! VILLAIN TEAM WINS!”  _ All Might’s voice boomed through the room. Shinsou and Tokoyami just gaped in surprise, not moving a muscle. 

Izuku turned to Kouda. He was beaming, and signed Izuku a quick  _ ‘good job!’ _

Izuku was still gasping, trying to calm his breathing and his racing heart, but nodded his head in response, grinning slightly. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed  
> If y’all were wondering, the reason Izuku had such a strong reaction is because situations like The Closet happened repeatedly, I just didn’t know how to write that in there.  
> Also, I’m a sucker for attention! Comments and Kudos make my day! Comment any questions you might have, I’ll do my best to answer them!  
> Thanks y’all! See you next Tuesday! Plus Ultra!!!


	6. Chapter 6

Ochako walked through the huge 1-A door the next morning, trying to contain her excitement. She had prepared all night last night for this (having practically nothing better to do), and couldn’t wait to show the fruits of her labor. 

Ochako looked around the room. She had made sure to get there relatively early, so there were only a few other teens in the classroom: namely, Iida, Yaoyorozu, and Midoriya. Both Iida and Yaoyorozu were studying, while Midoriya had his head lying on his desk, arms wrapped around them. 

She wondered if he was sleeping. He sure looked like he needed it, considering the bags under his eyes. Well, no way to know unless she asked. 

Ochako walked over, trying not to be too loud in case he really was asleep. To her surprise, when she neared Midoriya by a few feet, his head shot up, and his body going rigid. Okay, that was a little bit concerning. 

She waved her arms in front of her in a frenzy. “I’m so sorry! I thought maybe you were asleep and I was trying to be quiet but apparently I wasn’t _gosh_ _I’m really sorry_!” Ochako rushed out in one breath, feeling herself flush red as she realized that she practically yelled that. 

Midoriya seemed to relax slightly at that, but she could see in his eyes that he was still wary. Mentally slapping herself, partly for being stupid and partly for motivation, she took in a breath and released it. Raising her hands, she signed: ‘ _ Good Morning! How are you?’  _

She knew it was jumbled and messy, and hoped that he would be able to understand it. 

Midoriya, however, just looked shocked. Visibly. He didn’t move, other than his eyes widening further. 

Ochako glanced at the ground, embarrassed. “I saw you signing during the battle trial yesterday, and I wanted to learn. Sorry if that was w—”

Midoriya’s hands moved at breakneck pace, cutting Ochako off. He continued for a few more seconds, before Ochako stopped him.

“Woah, sorry, but I can’t understand that. I just started learning last night, and only got a couple of phrases down.” She felt bad at interrupting, but she truly couldn’t understand anything. 

Midoriya paused, then looked her in the eyes. There was something in his face that changed. Not drastically, but his eyes shone with something Ochako could only describe as happiness. He even sported a small grin. 

Midoriya seemed to think for a moment. Then, he spoke up. “Thank you, Uraraka-san. I’m really glad that you’re trying to learn sign language, and I just… thank you.” Ochako had heard him speak a couple times before, but she never noticed how sweet of a voice he had. It was soft and kind. Nothing like she’d expected from his stoic demeanor— but somehow, it fit him to a T. 

Ochaco brought out her brightest smile. “I’m glad. I want you to be comfortable around me. Maybe you could teach me some sign sometime?”

The light in his eyes grew even brighter. 

\----------------

Izuku felt… really good, actually. 

Yesterday had been an emotional disaster. He had zoned out for all of his classmates’ battles, and had pretty much collapsed in his bed the moment he got home. Apparently, nearly having a panic attack in the middle of a battle simulation was really exhausting. Who knew? 

Somehow, even though he was exhausted and mentally drained, his body still kept itself in a mode of panic. It had made him stay up to the early hours of morning, and the memories of his childhood kept pushing themselves to the forefront of his mind. He thanked everything in life for funny cat videos; those had been the only relief during his onslaught of panic. 

Despite that, Izuku had only gotten a couple fitful hours of sleep, and had been dreading coming to school today. He was just so  _ tired.  _

But Uraraka had drastically changed his mood. She was actually learning sign— just so that he could be more comfortable around her. He still didn’t fully understand why she would do that, but just the thought of it made him beam brightly, if only on the inside. 

Suddenly, Aizawa came into the classroom with a sharp, “settle down”, which abruptly pulled Izuku from his thoughts. 

The room quieted. “Good. It only took you five seconds to quiet down this time. I expect that to keep improving.”

Everyone in the room visibly tensed as they waited for what their teacher was about to say. They were probably dreading it, considering the first two days of intense hero training. They all seemed to hold a collective breath as Aizawa announced:

“Today, we’ll be picking a class representative.”

Izuku barely had time to cover his ears before the classroom  _ exploded.  _

“That’s so  _ normal _ !”

“I want to be representative!”

“No, I deserve it!”

The class continued to shout on and on, until Iida approached the front of the room. “We should all have a vote to decide who will be the best class representative!” His arms did a chopping movement to go along with his loud speech. 

“But wait,” Yaoyorozu said, “wouldn’t we all vote for ourselves?”

“We should all get to know each other first, and  _ then _ vote,” Izuku mumbled quietly. 

Apparently, it wasn’t quiet enough, because the whole class started looking at him. He paled slightly, and looked at the ground. 

“Oh yeah! That’s a great idea!” A loud and high pitched voice shouted. It was the girl that had pink skin and hair, with black irises and horns on her head. She stood up, and raised her arms enthusiastically. 

“I agree,” affirmed Iida. “Let us all make a circle with our desks and ‘get to know each other’. Is that alright, sensei?”

Aizawa let out a grunt of what was probably approval. “You can do whatever you want, so long as you have a rep picked by the end of homeroom.” Their teacher then proceeded to roll over unceremoniously, and fall asleep almost instantly. 

After hearing his consent, the entire class picked up their desks, and formed a big circle in the middle of the room. Izuku ended up between Kirishima— which he couldn’t help but think wasn’t a coincidence— and Shinsou. 

Izuku still wasn’t sure what to think of the purple-haired teen yet. He looked just about as tired as Izuku felt, with the dark bags under his eyes and everything. He didn’t speak a lot, but was an excellent fighter. During the trial yesterday, Shinsou had nearly beaten Kouda twice, despite the other having a much bigger physical advantage. Other than that, Izuku had nothing to base his classmate on. 

The class started going around the circle, and it looked like the way everyone decided to get to know each other was to know why everyone wanted to be heroes. That was fair, Izuku supposed, because knowing that would give each person a good sense of character and reflect who they wanted to become. Their motivations and desires. 

But Izuku— why  _ did  _ he want to be a hero? He had been told time and time again that he couldn’t do it. That he had a bad quirk (though he knew this already) and had no chance of becoming a pro with it. All Might himself had reaffirmed that fact. And yet, here he was— at U.A. on his way to become a hero. 

He tuned back in just as it was Uraraka’s turn. She said that she wanted to become a hero to support her parents, but looked embarrassed by that fact. Izuku wondered why. How was wanting to support her livelihood embarrassing or unheroic in any way? 

Next was Shinsou. The insomniac teen seemed to think for a moment, then said: “I’d like to prove everyone wrong. I want to show them that I  _ can  _ be a hero, and help save those around me using my quirk, no matter how villainous it is.”

There was a big round of applause for that, and Izuku didn’t hesitate in joining along.

“That was very inspiring! Thank you, Shinsou!” called Iida, chopping his arms firmly. “Midoriya, it is now your turn.”

Izuku blinked, taking a moment to properly collect his thoughts. 

He cleared his throat. “I want to be a hero that inspires others. Not in the way All Might does, but to those who feel unwanted. I want people to be accepted for who they are, regardless of their quirks. I’ll do whatever I can to help those who feel they don’t deserve help, or who think they will never receive it.” Deep breath. “If I can save even one person, then I feel it will be worth it to me.” Izuku spoke quietly, but was surprised he didn’t stutter even once in front of his peers. 

There was a silence. Izuku felt slightly embarrassed, and kept his head low. 

Then, all at once, the room erupted. Everyone started talking over one another: some were yelling (mostly Kirishima, with something about “manliness”, but he couldn’t be too sure), and some were even tearing up, which Izuku found surprising. 

He blushed slightly, but felt something warm and tingly in his chest. It felt weird and unusual, but somehow not uncomfortable. 

They continued around the rest of the circle, and Izuku made sure to pay attention so that he could make a good decision for the class rep. He felt bad for missing the first third-ish of the class, and made sure to double his effort listening to the rest of them.

It took a little while, but eventually everyone’s votes were in. Iida wrote the results on the board, and Izuku almost gave himself whiplash with the force of his double take. 

_ Wait… what?! _

Under his name, Midoriya Izuku, were 10 votes. 10. His name was at the top of the list, with Yaoyorozu underneath, having 4 votes. 

“Okay, then. Midoriya will be the class representative, and Yaoyorozu will be the vice representative.” Aizawa’s gruff voice called from the ground, to everyone’s surprise. “Any objections?”

No one made a sound. 

“Alright. That’s that, then.”

\------------------------

The moment the class broke into discussion, Shouta promptly collapsed in his sleeping bag. Their idea of getting to know each other and then taking a vote was smart and effective, Shouta would admit that much. 

That, and it gave Shouta a few minutes to take a nap. He listened with half an ear and dozed. 

After a full discussion and vote, the class had settled with Midoriya as their president, and Yaoyorozu as the vice. Not a bad decision; both were good at decision making. Shouta bet that they would do well. It seemed that both of them doubted themselves, though, from what Shouta could tell. Hopefully the roles would help them find some self-confidence. 

With that done, Shouta dismissed the class and proceeded to head to the Teachers’ Lounge; he needed some coffee. When he opened the door, he wasn’t all too surprised to see Yagi in his normal form sitting on the couch. He seemed to be lost in thought, with wrinkles creasing his forehead. 

Shouta could take a guess as to why. Yesterday had been the pro’s first day as a teacher, and the exercise had been… interesting, to say the least. And, of course, the number one problem child was responsible for that. Shouta had watched from afar to see how the students’ combat, strategy, and teamwork skills were. 

The first team was the center of the issue. Namely, Midoriya Izuku. Both teams had excellent teamwork and combat skills, especially considering they didn’t use their quirks as much as solid combat. Which was good. There were, and would be, many situations in which heroes could encounter where their quirks just weren’t suitable. 

The villains’ team had, quite frankly, a brilliant strategy. Using the scenery of one floor to make it appear as though the bomb was there, then leading the hero team to their ultimate downfall, had been ingenious. The hero team had a solid strategy as well, though— especially with Tokoyami facing Midoriya. Using his quirk, Dark Shadow, to surround Midoriya and take away the ability to use his quirk was efficient, and worked well in a pinch. 

Except… it hadn’t quite worked as the heroes had hoped. 

Shouta still didn’t understand what had caused that  _ scream.  _ His student had sounded terrified, but of  _ what _ , Shouta couldn’t be completely sure. He could guess that it was most likely from trauma of some sort, though. Maybe a fear. 

Either way, it was over fast. Tokoyami had pulled back Dark Shadow (Shouta couldn’t blame him), and the fight resumed shortly after. 

Midoriya had seemingly snapped out of it, and continued to execute the plan. It was over soon after, but Midoriya still looked shaken by the encounter. 

Shouta shook his head, and walked over to the coffee machine. 

The sound of the machine whirring snapped Yagi out of his trance. 

“Aizawa?” He furrowed his eyebrows. “I’m sorry; I didn’t see you come in.”

Shouta grunted in response, focused on his coffee. When that was done, Shouta resigned to his fate, and slumped on the couch beside the blond. 

“So,” he huffed. “what did you think of your first lesson?”

Yagi paused, and slumped over as well. “All of the students did very well, but I’m concerned about Midoriya.”

“Yeah, he’s been on my mind too.”

“What could have caused that  _ scream _ ?” He looked troubled. Shouta found himself surprised that the number one hero was looking to  _ him  _ for advice. 

“I…” Shouta paused. “I don’t know. We can only guess. Past trauma, maybe a fear?”

Yagi nodded slowly. “It seemed serious, if someone as… stoic as Midoriya had that reaction.” 

Shouta couldn’t help but agree. “Well, Midoriya was picked as Class Representative this morning.”

That didn’t seem to shock Yagi. Instead, he nodded. “Yes, that sounds about right. He is rather brilliant. Lots of potential. If only I’d seen it sooner.” The last part was no louder than a mutter, but Shouta heard it nonetheless. 

“What was that?”

Yagi looked up. Then he paused, thinking. “About a year or so ago… I met Young Midoriya.”

Shouta nodded at him to continue. 

“There was a villain that had attacked him, but by the time I got there, he pretty much had the villain handled. Then, he… asked me if he could become a hero with a bad quirk.”

Shouta inhaled. He could see where this was going.

“And I… told him no.” his voice had dropped to a whisper at that. 

Shouta paused. Took in a deep breath. Then spoke. 

“Why would you  _ do that.” _

Yagi flinched, but didn’t look surprised at the reaction. He stayed silent, which was probably a wise move. 

Well, that explained a lot. If Midoriya had thought that he had a bad quirk, and came to the number one hero asking a question that could determine the course of his future— only to be  _ rejected— _ no wonder he seemed so closed off. Shouta pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“I was wrong.” spoke Yagi in a small voice, filled with regret. He bowed his head low. “I was  _ so wrong.” _

\--------------------

Izuku still couldn’t wrap his mind around it. 

Him. Class president. Why would anyone— potential heroes, no less— choose  _ Izuku _ of all people to be the leader of their class? He wasn’t anything special. Just a useless nobody with a terrible quirk. Why would they vote for him? It was unfathomable at best, and there must’ve been a mistake.

All this ran through Izuku’s mind as he blankly sat down at a lunch table. Uraraka and Kirishima were, of course, joining him, as that had become their usual. They started chatting amicably, gesturing wildly and shouting in excitement at times. Izuku didn’t join in; this wasn’t the sort of thing he was used to, or particularly enjoyed. Instead, he sat with his head in his arms, thinking. That was, until a finger tapped gently against his shoulder.

Izuku jumped up in surprise, ready for a shove, or maybe a slap. Instead, he was greeted by Kouda. 

Oh. 

He liked Kouda. The big guy was really sweet, very quiet, and seemed very mello in general. 

“ _ Can I sit with you?”  _ he questioned. 

Izuku didn’t feel the need to sign a response, so he just nodded. Then, to his surprise, both Iida and Shinsou approached the table as well. 

“Hello, Midoriya,” said Iida. “Shinsou and I were wondering if we would be allowed to sit here too?”

Izuku turned to look at Kouda, Uraraka, and Kirishima. Kouda nodded meekly, Uraraka grinned brighty, and Kirishima gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up. 

“Y-Yes, you can,” Izuku softly spoke. 

They both sat, and all of them formed a big circle around the lunch table. 

“Excuse me for asking— but Midoriya, why aren’t you eating anything?” asked Iida. 

Izuku looked down to where a lunch tray should be. “I-I’m not very hungry, and I’m used to not eating lunch.” he grimaced at how fake that sounded. Then, like an afterthought, he lied and said, “and I ate a big breakfast, so p-please don’t worry.”

Well, it wasn’t completely a lie. Izuku wasn’t very hungry, mostly due to the fact that he hadn’t eaten lunch at school in years. He was used to it. 

During elementary, Izuku had always brought in his mother’s delicious homemade meals, but they always got stolen. That, or smashed onto the ground under someone’s foot. It became such a regular occurrence that Izuku just started not bringing lunch altogether.

The big breakfast thing, however, was a straight up lie. Izuku hadn’t eaten at all this morning, and on the rare occasion he did remember to eat breakfast, it was something small like a granola bar. 

“Ah, I see.” Iida nodded. 

“So, Midori,” Izuku looked over to see Uraraka talking to him. “Me and Kirishima were talking, and Kiri says that he wants to learn sign as well! Is that alright?”

Izuku nodded.He was slightly shocked, but not entirely surprised. Kirishima smiled brightly.

Shinsou looked up. “Oh, you know sign? Now that I think about it, I did see you and Kouda signing yesterday during the battle trial…”

“Speaking of the battle trial,” Kirishima spoke, “what happened during yours? We couldn’t hear, but you looked pretty shaken up, Midoriya.”

Izuku stiffened. He had hoped they wouldn’t remember that, but it looked like they had. 

Kouda raised his hands. “ _ Yeah, I was wondering about that. I’m sorry if it’s personal, but can I ask why you freaked out?” _

Everyone at their table looked at Izuku in concern. He trained his eyes on the ground. “Oh, um… that was my fault. I freaked out. But it’s nothing, really.”

Uraraka gave him a gentle smile. “Alright, Midori. We just want to make sure you’re okay.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, though nobody looked fully convinced. They seemed to sense that Izuku was uncomfortable and didn’t want to talk anymore, so they didn’t press him about it. For that, Izuku was grateful.

Then the table went silent. 

After a few awkward moments, Shinsou looked up. “ _ I know some sign as well,”  _ he signed, successfully changing the subject. 

Izuku blinked. Then blinked again.

“ _ You do?”  _ He questioned. “ _ How did you learn it?” _

Shinsou looked away, seemingly ashamed. “ _ My parents made me learn to sign so that they wouldn’t be affected by my quirk.” _

Wait a second. 

“ _ Oh. I’m sorry, but I don’t know what your quirk is?” _

_ “No, that’s my mistake. My quirk is called ‘Brainwash'. If I speak to someone and they respond, then I can control them.”  _ The purple-haired teen looked embarrassed, and almost expectant of something unpleasant. 

“ _ Wow! That’s really cool!”  _ Izuku’s mind was going a mile a minute, unaware of Uraraka, Kirishima, and Iida watching them converse in confusion. “ _ That could be super useful in suicide situations, and in peacefully calming hostage situations; you would make a fantastic underground hero!”  _

Shinsou looked shocked. “Wait, so you don’t think my quirk is villainous?” he asked out loud. 

Izuku responded in kind. “No, of course not! Why would I ever think that of your quirk?”

Shinsou sat there for a moment, looking shocked. Then, he shook his head and smiled. 

“You’re too pure for this world,” be mumbled, most likely assuming that Izuku couldn’t hear him. He did, but Izuku let it slide for now. 

Kirishima looked up cheerily and opened his mouth. “Hey, Midoriya—”

He was cut short by a very loud and blaring alarm resonating through the cafeteria. Izuku jumped harshly in surprise, and everyone at the table leapt to their feet.

“This alarm means that someone’s broken into campus,” said Iida. “We should head out the exit with the other students.”

He was right; they had to leave. All the students in the cafeteria, which had to be several hundred, were scrambling towards the exit. As Izuku and the others ran to join them, they quickly got surrounded by the mob. 

Izuku was jostled back and forth until he realized that he could no longer see any of his friends. He could practically hear his heartbeat in his ears, and the way people were constantly shoving past him, throwing his thin body around, made it hard to breathe. Now, Izuku was not claustrophobic, but the crowd constantly pressing against him made him reconsider if he might be. 

It was a huge relief when he finally hit something solid. Through all the rush of students, Izuku had gotten pressed back into the edges of the crowd, shoving him against the windows that lined the cafeteria.

As he was finally able to take a half decent breath, he glanced down into the courtyard.for a moment, his heart felt like it had stopped beating in his chest, but the thrumming in his eardrums made it sound like it was going a hundred miles an hour. He could barely even make out the sounds of the students rushing around him. There was a hooded figure standing amid the crowd of reporters. This person had this… air around him. Izuku didn’t quite know what it was; all he knew was that it was bad. His aura radiated hatred and loathing, and he could even feel some murderous intent coming from the figure. 

Although Izuku didn’t quite know why he could tell this much from a glimpse, there was definitely something horribly wrong with that person. Bile rose up his throat unwillingly, and Izuku forced it down with great effort. His heart was pounding viciously in his chest, and his instincts were screaming at him to  _ run, to run and get out of here. _ It took every ounce of self control he had to not do just that. 

Izuku barely noticed that the alarms had died down, and that Iida had somehow managed to calm the crowd, saying that it was only news reporters. Izuku knew he was wrong. The huge gate that led to UA couldn’t simply have been broken in. He glanced at the gate to see that it was… no longer there. 

Izuku gulped past the lump that had formed in his throat. That was  _ not  _ good, but Izuku couldn’t really tell anyone that he had… what. A bad feeling? No one would believe him.

As the crowd slowly dispersed, Izuku continued to think about the murderous hate and loathing that had radiated from the hooded figure. He tried to clear it from his mind, but the feeling of dread not only remained, but seemed to get stronger. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go! Another chapter!  
> This one is much more light and fluffy, and I really enjoyed writing it!  
> Any questions, thoughts, theories? I’d love to hear them all!  
> That’s all I can think of right now, so... see you next week!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> USJ part 1!

The day after the break in, Tokoyami pulled Izuku aside after class. 

“Midoriya,” said Tokoyami, looking to the ground. “I…” he paused for a moment, looking thoughtful.

Izuku, however, was greatly confused. Why would Tokoyami need to speak to him? Had Izuku done something wrong?

“Midoriya, I wanted to apologize.” 

Izuku frowned slightly. What would Tokoyami need to apologize for? 

He was even more shocked when his classmate bent down low. 

Tokoyami’s voice was rough. “I won’t pry, but I caused you trouble during the battle trial. I’ve wanted to apologize since then, but I… haven’t had the courage. I sincerely hope you can forgive me.”

Oh. Izuku had nearly forgotten about the incident, having successfully tucked the memory in the deepest corners of his mind. He shook his head, carefully touching Tokoyami on the shoulder. 

The bird headed boy looked up, expression greatly distraught. 

Izuku took in a breath. “I forgive you.” 

And it was as simple as that.

\---------------------------

The next few days were, for lack of a better word, uneventful. 

Izuku, with the help of Kouda and Shinsou, had been teaching Uraraka, Kirishima, and Iida some basic words and phrases in sign. Apparently, Iida had wanted to learn sign as well, and said so the day after the break in.

This had shocked Izuku to no extent; they all barely knew each other, and he had no idea why Iida would possibly be interested in learning sign. Kirishima and Uraraka he understood slightly, but only because they both wanted him to be more comfortable around them. 

But  _ Iida _ ? 

The aforementioned teen had seemed to sense Izuku’s confusion, though, and explained that knowing sign language would be useful for communication in heroics. In addition to that, he wanted to accommodate his classmates’ needs. 

Regardless, Izuku was happy to help others learn sign language, and relished in their enthusiasm. It was a decent distraction from the dread he had been constantly feeling since the break in, which he tried not to dwell on. 

\--------------------------

Before Izuku knew it, Aizawa was explaining to 1-A that they were about to go on their first field trip. They were all outside of the school, standing by a row of buses, and his classmates practically bounced up and down in excitement. Izuku himself could only pay attention to about half the words their teacher was saying, trying to lessen the headache that he knew was building up. 

That morning, Izuku had woken up extremely early, though he hadn’t known why. That, combined with the usual late nights he stayed up just made him sleep deprived and slightly grumpy. He had tried to clear his head on a mindless walk, but his efforts had been in vain. 

They all loaded the bus in pairs and started the trip. Izuku leaned his head against the window, Kirishima at his side. All of his classmates’ were talking excitedly about the forthcoming trip, conversing about possible exercises and situations. 

Izuku was zoning out for most of it, but was abruptly pulled back by a mention of his name. 

“Midoriya-chan?” a girl with green hair and froggish features— Asui— croaked. 

“U-um, Asui-chan, right?” 

“Yes, but call me Tsuyu.  _ Kero _ .” She touched the tip of her index finger to her chin. “I tend to speak my mind, so I’m sorry if this is too invasive. I was wondering exactly what your quirk is? Aizawa-sensei mentioned it briefly, and we’ve all only seen it once.”

Izuku frowned slightly, though he couldn’t say he was really surprised. His classmates were bound to ask about his quirk sooner or later. 

“U-um, well…” suddenly Izuku was very aware that nearly all of his classmates were listening in on the conversation. “It’s— it’s called  _ ‘Corrosive Shadow.’ _ I can basically attach a shadow to mine, or take my shadow a-and give it physical form. I honestly haven’t tested it out that much, b-but I know that it injures people, and can’t work if there is no shadow in the area.” He gulped nervously, glancing at his shoes. 

“Wow, Midoriya!” exclaimed Kirishima beside him. “I didn’t know your quirk was so useful! You could use it practically anywhere. That, and, it’s pretty flashy, unlike my own quirk.” He hardened his arms for emphasis.

Izuku ignored the compliment for the moment, focusing more on his classmate’s doubt. “W-what do you mean, Kirishima-kun? Your quirk is incredibly useful! It might not be flashy, but it can effectively counter most elemental quirks, and provide a great defense.”

Kirishima’s eyes shone for a moment, then he sprouted a wide smile. “Thanks, buddy! That’s so manly!”

“Speaking of flashy,” said Asui, tapping her index finger to her chin again. “I’d say that out of all of us Todoroki and Bakugou have the flashiest quirks.”

“More so with Todoroki, I think,” said Kaminari. “No offense, Bakugou, but even though we haven’t known you very long, we all know your personality is pretty crappy.” He was smiling dumbly while he said it, seemingly making a joke. 

“Huh?!” Bakugou practically screeched, leaning forward in his seat. “What’d you say, you crappy extra?! I’ll destroy all of you low-lifes!”

Most of the class just chuckled good-naturedly at Bakugou throwing out insults left and right, while Izuku sat still in shock. They were… teasing Bakugou? Izuku had never met anyone who would dare to do such a thing to a teen with such a strong quirk. Bakugou was always idolised, given excuses for his bad behavior because of his power. To say that this was strange would be an understatement. 

“So, Midoriya,” Yaoyorozu asked, bringing Izuku out of his thoughts. “If there was, say, a flash bomb, or no light in the area, you wouldn’t be able to use your quirk, correct?”

Izuku just nodded, feeling uncomfortable. 

Asui tapped her chin again. “Midoriya-chan, we don’t see you use your quirk much; in fact, we’ve only ever seen it on the first day of school when Aizawa sensei told you to. I’m sorry if I’m being rude, but you don’t seem to like your quirk. Why is that?”

Bakugou growled menacingly before staring out the window. 

Izuku gulped. “U-um.. well…”

The bus lurched forward slightly, and came to a full stop. “We’re here,” called Aizawa.

Grateful for the distraction, Izuku stood up as fast as he dared and followed the rest of 1-A out the doors of the bus. 

As they walked up, they all gaped at the sheer size of the building, and even more so when they entered. 

“Woah, this looks like Universal Studios Japan!” exclaimed Sero.

“Yes, I suppose it does!” called out a voice Izuku didn’t recognize. He looked around to see a figure in a space-themed hero costume standing at the center of the plaza, just down the steps. 

“Oh my gosh!” Izuku turned to see Uraraka clinging to his arm, bouncing up and down in sheer excitement. “That’s the rescue hero, Thirteen! They’re my favorite!”

The space hero— Thirteen— chuckled slightly. Aizawa bent down and whispered something in her ear, and Thirteen held up three fingers as she whispered a response. Aizawa seemed annoyed, but exhaled out of his nose and straightened up. 

“Everyone, this is the Rescue Hero: Thirteen.”

“Hello everyone!” Thirteen chirped. “Welcome to the  _ ‘Unforeseen Simulation Joint’, _ or as I like to call it…” she paused dramatically. “The USJ!”

“Wow, this really  _ is  _ Universal Studios Japan,” muttered some of his classmates.

Thirteen seemed to ignore this, and instead went on a brief lecture about how dangerous quirks could be (as if Izuku didn’t know that already). To top it off, she started discussing why heroes should use their quirks to help people. 

Everyone seemed to listen intently to their words, with serious looks on their faces. 

Just as Thirteen was finishing her speech, Izuku felt a heavy  _ lurch  _ in his gut. He looked around wildly, heart pounding in his ears. He tried to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat, but every inch of his body was telling him that something was  _ wrong.  _

Aizawa-sensei seemed to sense his distress, and Izuku could only look at him with panicked eyes. Then, out of the corner of his eye, Izuku spotted something misty and black in the middle of the plaza. It grew larger and larger within seconds, and before Izuku could think, hundreds of bodies had suddenly appeared.

All of Izuku’s instincts screamed at him to  _ leave now— there’s danger _ . He refrained, if only just. 

“Thirteen,” instructed Aizawa-sensei, “Take the students and get out of here. Now!”

Thirteen rushed to obey. “Kaminari,” she asked. “Can you try to communicate with the school?”

Kaminari nodded his head seriously, then put his hand to his headset. 

All of class 1-A started heading towards the stairs to get to the exit. Izuku turned to face Aizawa, who had rushed straight into the cluster of villains. Izuku thought it was a foolish idea, seeing as how Eraserhead was an underground hero who relied on subtle tactics. However, that didn’t seem to stop the hero. He dashed forward, and quickly incapacitated villains with a glance and attacked with his capture weapon. 

“Kurogiri,” growled a villain. He was standing at the head of the group, with light blue hair and hands covering his body. Izuku paused. The air around the villain felt familiar. 

Then it clicked. 

It was the hooded figure Izuku had seen during the break-in. His aura was stronger this time— filled with more hatred and loathing. This villain practically  _ screamed  _ danger and instability, which scared Izuku.

The hand villain raised his arm, pointing at class 1-A. “Scatter them, Kurogiri.”

The villain standing next to him — his body seemed to be made of mist and he had glowing yellow eyes— gathered a swirl of purples and blacks, and vanished inside of it. 

Izuku looked around hurriedly, and Kirishima grabbed his arm. His eyes were full of panic, but he still seemed determined. “Come on, Midoriya! We need to leave—”

He was cut off by the mist villain, Kurogiri, appearing right next to their group. “Where is All Might? We have information saying that he would be here.” 

No one bothered to respond, either from fear or determination. Instead, Bakugou leapt out with a yell, igniting his palms. 

Kurogiri didn’t seem to react, just waving his hand. Suddenly, under their feet, black portals appeared. Izuku leapt out of the way, grabbing Uraraka’s hand as he did. They both tumbled onto the ground, and looked up as soon as they were able. 

The majority of their classmates were gone, with only Iida, Shinsou, Yaoyorozu, Thirteen, and the two of them remaining. They all glanced at each other, before Kurogiri spoke. 

“Well, well. Good job, heroes. You really are the best of the bunch.” He spoke calmly, with an air of smugness. Now that Izuku had a better look at the villain, he could see that Kurogiri was wearing a suit.

_ That means that he must have a body of some kind.  _ Izuku’s mind was going a mile a minute, thinking of some way to gain an advantage.

“Students, get behind me!” Thirteen called out. 

They all rushed to obey, while Thirteen opened a cap on their finger, activating their quirk. 

Kurogiri laughed. With a stretch of his hand, he formed a portal right before Thirteen’s quirk. Another opened behind her. 

“Thirteen, wa—” Uraraka tried to shout, but was cut off. Thirteen’s quirk, Black Hole, started rushing out of the portal behind them and was now tearing through her suit. 

Izuku couldn’t even think past the shock. Everyone was frozen in place, staring at the scene in horror. 

Luckily, Iida was quick to move, and pulled Thirteen out of the way before too much damage could be done. But damage was  _ already  _ done. The only experienced pro in the area was now indisposed. Iida gently set Thirteen down on the ground. 

“Run,” Thirteen called out weakly. Izuku was surprised he could understand her. “Get out of here…  _ go.” _ She then proceeded to collapse on the ground, unconscious. 

Kurogiri laughed yet again. “I suppose I shouldn’t have expected anything less from future heroes. You really are U.A’s golden apples.”

While Kurogiri mused out loud, Izuku started talking in hushed tones to the other students. 

“Shinsou, Yaoyorozu, can you help me fight off Kurogiri?” They both nodded, and he continued. “Iida, you’re the fastest, so when I give you the signal, you  _ run.” _

Iida looked like he was going to protest, but stopped immediately when Izuku gave him a hard glare. “Uraraka, I need you to sneak up and touch Kurogiri while we distract him, and Shinsou can brainwash him so that we can get rid of him. Sound good?” Everyone nodded seriously. “Alright— go!”

They all leapt into action. Shinsou and Izuku both moved swiftly around Kurogiri, trying to land a hit. Yaoyorozu created a metal rod and started attacking as well. They couldn't seem to touch the mist villain, but Izuku knew that there had to be a body in there somewhere. 

While Shinsou went flying with a high kick aimed at Kurogiri’s head, Izuku took a split second to sprint over. “Yaoyorozu,” He whispered in her ear. She turned to look at him. “Could you create a flash bomb?” Her eyes lit up in understanding. 

“Oh, you really shouldn’t be underestimating your opponents, young heroes,” said Kurogiri. He reached out a hand, and portals quickly formed beneath the three of them. They all leapt out of the way as fast as they could. Kurogiri chuckled. 

At that moment, Yaoyorozu threw up her arm and yelled. 

“Close your eyes!” 

They all did so, but Kurogiri couldn’t fully escape it’s effects. Even with his eyes closed, Izuku could see the blinding light. It stayed bright for a few seconds, before going dark. When Izuku felt it was safe again, he opened his eyes again. Kurogiri was standing with his hands over where his face should be, bent over slightly. 

Izuku glanced behind Kurogiri, and shouted, “Uraraka-san! Now!” The brunette swiftly ducked around the mist villain's body, and tapped it with the pads of her fingers. Kurogiri began to float, flailing slightly in the air.

“How does that feel, buttface!” called Shinsou, using his hands to amplify his voice.

“Wha—” 

Shinsou smiled slyly. “Go to sleep.” 

And Kurogiri did so. 

Satisfied, Izuku turned back around. “Iida, run!” 

The navy haired boy hesitated, but started sprinting when he saw the look in Izuku’s eyes. He reached the doors in a flash. 

“Stay safe, everyone!” he said, before running out with a burst of speed. 

Uraraka, Shinsou, and Yaoyorozu all came jogging towards Izuku, sporting grins. 

Uraraka threw her fist in the air, with an enthusiastic, “Yeah! That was great!” and grinned. “What should we do next, Midori?”

Izuku paused, unsure. 

First, there was Kurogiri, who was undoubtedly going to escape within a few minutes. 

Then, there was the matter of their classmates. It seemed as though they had all been scattered throughout the facility, and Izuku could guess that the villains had scattered as well.

Lastly, there was the matter of Aizawa-sensei, the horde of villains at the plaza, and the hand villain at the lead. Izuku couldn’t be very sure about what his quirk was, but it was most likely very dangerous. 

He bent in towards the group. They all brought in their ears. “Yaoyorozu, Uraraka, I need you to make a stretcher and take Thirteen as far away as you can.” They both nodded seriously, and left to do their job.  _ Good. _

He then turned to the purple-headed teen. “Shinsou, head with me to the plaza. We need to assess the situation there, and your brainwashing will be a great asset against those villains.” 

He nodded firmly, and they both sprinted away. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... yeah.  
> I’ll be honest- the USJ has been really hard for me to write. I’m not very good at action scenes (or writing in general) so if it’s a bit harder to understand then that’s why.  
> Regardless, I hope you enjoy!  
> Stay healthy out there!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> USJ part 2!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y’all! This chapter does have some violence- depictions of blood, gore, the likes, so be cautious! Enjoy!

Hitoshi’s heart pounded viciously in his chest as he ran alongside Midoriya. 

He still couldn’t quite grasp the situation. One moment, their class had been preparing to do some rescue exercises with Thirteen, and the next, they were fighting for their lives. 

The way Midoriya had taken control of the situation so calmly left Hitoshi stunned. The plan had been simple, but incredibly effective. Hitoshi quietly thanked his past self for his self-enforced physical training— otherwise, he would’ve been toast against that villain. Sure, training rigorously off of nothing but online videos for years had been exhausting, but it had proved to be well worth the effort.

Hitoshi’s classmates were also incredible. They all had such good control over their powers, and their combat abilities were insane. He felt lucky that he had built his body up enough to take on those robots without his quirk, as he probably would’ve been in general studies otherwise. But he wasn’t. Hitoshi, with his awful quirk that everyone hated, had made it into the hero course. He still couldn’t really believe it. 

Hitoshi still felt disgusted that he had to use his quirk on the mist villain, but hadn’t yet felt the telltale sign of someone breaking out of his quirk’s control. Good— that meant that Kurogiri was still floating up to the ceiling, though it wouldn’t stay that way much longer. 

Hitoshi’s breathing was ragged from exertion as his feet slammed on the pavement. The two of them were rapidly approaching the huge group of villains in the plaza. Midoriya waved Hitoshi over to a piece of debris, and the both of them hid behind it, watching in awe as Aizawa-sensei took down villain after villain. 

He used his capture weapon on anyone who approached, efficiently slamming them onto the ground— seemingly using his quirk to erase theirs as he brutally defeated them. There were plenty of villains down already, but their teacher seemed to be slowing down, breaths getting heavier. Sweat was dripping down his face, and Hitoshi could tell that he was getting tired. 

Still, it was amazing that Aizawa-sensei was more than holding his own against that huge horde of villains. Though the underground hero seemed to be tired all the time, he still held up well against every villain in front of him. He kept blazing through the group. 

The villain at the head of the group— the one with the hands on him— huffed quietly in laughter. “Wow, you really are cool, Eraserhead.” 

Just as Aizawa-sensei’s hair floated down, signalling him deactivating his quirk to blink, the hand villain jumped over in a flash and grabbed their teacher's elbow. Hitoshi’s breath hitched as he saw the skin around the elbow crackle and peel off rapidly. 

Aizawa-sensei quickly leapt away, clutching his arm. Blood dripped slowly between his fingers as he growled at the hand villain. His hair floated back up, effectively erasing the other’s quirk, but the hand villain simply laughed, almost childishly. 

“Noumu,” the hand villain said, “crush him.” 

He pointed straight at Aizawa-sensei, and before Hitoshi could even blink, the buff, brainy-looking villain appeared right beside their teacher. Their teacher didn’t even have any time to react before the Noumu pounded his fist straight onto him, sending him into the ground by the head. 

A loud crack rang throughout the plaza, the force of the blow whipping Hitoshi’s hair in his face. The ground surrounding Aizawa-sensei and the Noumu had been caved in, cracks branching out in all directions. Blood slowly pooled around Aizawa’s head, the Noumu still holding him down with a giant hand. Bile rose up Hitoshi’s throat, and he forced it down with great effort. 

Hitoshi turned briefly to look at Midoriya, and saw the same panic and fear etched across the greenette’s face. This, Hitoshi found slightly surprising. From what he’d seen, Midoriya normally had a look of uninterest— a mask not unlike his own that he constantly had to put up so that others wouldn’t see his pain. 

But now, at the event of their teacher being beaten to a bloody pulp, it ripped that mask right off, revealing the horror that lay underneath. 

Suddenly, Midoriya leapt up and ran straight into the group of villains.

Hitoshi cursed and sprinted alongside Midoriya.

They rushed up against the villains, who had turned at the sound of their footsteps. They all smiled maniacally, bringing out knives and various other weapons. Hitoshi would've stopped in fear, but the adrenaline and desperation inside him made him keep going. 

Midoriya leapt up, before starting to punch and kick furiously. The villains stayed standing, but Midoriya kept up the fight. Hitoshi readily joined in, keeping his eye on the many villains surrounding them. 

He punched with desperation, and used every dirty move he knew; he had to stay alive. Hitoshi started yelling anything that came to mind: insults, jokes, comments, everything that he could name, and a few villains responded. Hitoshi felt the link of his quirk, and he told all of them to pass out. 

He continued doing this until his voice was hoarse and he had a pounding headache. They downed several villains, but more just kept coming.

A burst of flame grazed Hitoshi’s arm, and he turned around, delivering a nasty kick to the villain behind him. 

Everything quickly became a blur. Kick, punch, dodge, punch, yell, duck, kick, brainwash, punch, dodge— 

But no matter how hard they were trying, more villains poured in relentlessly. Hitoshi had several cuts and bruises now littering his skin, and his body protested at every movement. 

Then, from the corner of his eye, Hitoshi saw a villain leap towards Midoriya from behind. The villain had a knife and was grinning sadistically.

“Midoriya!” He shouted desperately. 

Midoriya turned, and fear shone in his eyes as he saw the villain. 

In panic, Midoriya thrust out his arm and released his quirk.

\-----------------

Izuku had  _ no clue  _ what he was doing. 

Shinsou and him had been observing their teacher fight off villains, analyzing the situation. Aizawa had been incredibly impressive, especially considering that he was an underground hero and full blown fighting wasn’t their speciality. 

Then everything went wrong. 

The hand villain used his quirk on Eraserhead, and he could tell from that that his quirk had something to do with decaying, or decomposition. Either way, it was incredibly dangerous, and effectively put their teachers' arm out of commission. Then, that big black villain with a visible brain— the hand villain had called it a Noumu— had promptly smashed Aizawa into the ground. 

The sight made Izuku sick, and before he even had a chance to think about how stupid he was, he ran right into the horde of villains. 

He dodged a punch aimed at his face, and kicked the villain in the side. Another took a swing at the back of his leg, but Izuku simply jumped over it. 

Then, he found himself surrounded. 

Shinsou fought a few feet away, with his own cluster of villains to deal with. He seemed to be doing well on his own, so Izuku focused on his own group. 

He used his smaller size to his advantage, quickly dodging between villains and using that momentum to knock them to the ground. 

A punch to the throat of one villain, an elbow to the side of another, a kick, a punch, ducking down, running. Izuku was quickly tiring; he had never dealt with this large a group before, and it was clearly showing. The villains around him started smiling creepily as he wiped sweat off his brow. 

The attacks continued at a faster pace, and before long, Izuku struggled to keep up. His legs ached from the amount of running and kicking he was doing, and it was getting harder and harder to take in proper breaths.

Just as Izuku was ducking a high kick, he heard a shout from his side. 

“Midoriya!” It was Shinsou. 

Izuku whirled around to see a villain holding a knife dangerously close to his face. He was rushing in fast, and before Izuku could think about what he was doing, he activated his quirk. 

It grew rapidly around his feet where his shadow lay, shooting out in a flash. 

The villain's face immediately flashed to shock. Then pain. He cried out, holding his arm.

Izuku’s eyes widened. Suddenly, he was caught up in a memory.

\------------------

_ If you were to ask, Izuku would say that he had not had a very good day. He had just gotten home from school, and he was trying his very best not to cry.  _

_ It wasn’t working very well.  _

_ He fled straight to his room, ignoring the worried looks from his mother. The door slammed shut, and Izuku ran straight onto his bed.  _

_ He didn’t  _ understand.  _ Why were the other kids being so mean? Izuku hadn’t meant to hurt Naoki. His quirk shouldn’t have hurt him, too. When Izuku had touched it, he felt warm and tingly, but when Naoki touched it, he said that it hurt. _

_ Izuku had tried talking to Kacchan at lunch, but he was simply ignored. So Izuku went to others, but no one said anything. He had to sit alone, and watch all his classmates laugh and have fun. It wasn’t fair! _

_ So Izuku was upset.  _

_ He tried figuring out what he did wrong. What did he do to make his classmates hate him? _

_ He didn’t notice his mom quietly opening the door. She approached with silent footsteps, then gently touched her son on the shoulder.  _

_ Izuku whirled around, frightened. On instinct, he lashed out his hand.  _

_ The next thing he knew, his mother was crying out. She desperately grasped her arm, and backed away a few steps.  _

_ “M- Mom?” His voice wobbled.  _

_ She shook her head, tears forming in her green eyes.  _

_ Izuku took a careful step towards her, and she flinched back slightly. _

_ “Mom? A-are you okay?” He could barely see with the tears clouding his vision.  _

_ “Izuku, what did you do?” _

_ Izuku didn’t know how to respond, so he stayed silent. _

_ His mom took one step back, then another. She reached for the doorknob with her left hand, and Izuku suddenly had a clear view of why she was holding her other arm.  _

_ There was blood covering her forearm, which was now dripping slightly on the floor. Right in the middle, was a deep gash. _

_ Izuku took in a sharp breath, and stumbled back slightly. _

_ “Mo-mom!” He tried calling out, but she had already left the room.  _

_ Izuku’s head moved back and forth frantically, trying to find what hurt his mom like that. In the darkness it was hard to see, but stretching behind Izuku was the thin tendril of a shadow.  _

_ His quirk.  _

_ The pieces fit together in his head. His quirk had hurt his mother.  _

_ And suddenly, he understood why his classmates had been frightened. _

_ \-------------------- _

This was the second time that Hitoshi had ever seen Midoriya use his quirk. The smaller boy seemed to be disgusted by it; that much was clear from the conversation on the bus ride to the USJ. The first time had been during the ball throw on the first day of school, and Midoriya had only used it because Aizawa had practically forced him to. 

Even during the battle trial on the second day, Midoriya hadn’t used his quirk at all. He relied solely on combat and strategy. Hitoshi didn’t understand why, not really, but he saw the look in Midoriya’s eyes whenever he did something with his quirk. It was hard to read, but there was loathing, sadness, and something else he couldn’t decipher. Hitoshi saw those same eyes every time he looked in a mirror. 

Midoriya drew back his arm, and lashed it out— quirk following in the same motion. It was pure black, and formed quickly into a sharp point, slashing the villain in the arm. The villain cried out, grasping his arm. The other villains in the area turned at the noise in confusion, but Hitoshi wasn’t too concerned about them. 

He was concerned about Midoriya. 

The greenette had promptly frozen up the moment the villain screamed. His eyes widened, and he didn’t seem aware of his surroundings anymore. 

Suddenly, the thread of control Hitoshi had over the mist villain snapped.  _ He must’ve hit the ceiling,  _ Hitoshi thought. 

As if on cue, a swirl of black formed a few yards away, right next to the hand villain. 

“Shigaraki Tomura,” said the mist villain to the hand villain. “One of the students managed to escape.”

The hand villain,  _ Shigaraki _ , growled in disgust, vigorously scratching his neck. “Kurogiri, if you weren’t so necessary, I would kill you right now. How could you let those useless NPCs escape?!”

“These students are not to be underestimated. They are stronger and smarter than they look.”

Shigaraki growled again. “Well, it seems as though we have to leave soon. Since All Might isn’t here, we’ll have to… teach him a lesson.” He grinned manically through the hand on his face. 

“Noumu,” he commanded, “kill that green haired brat.”

Hitoshi’s head spun over to Midoriya, who had apparently snapped out of his stupor. He tried to move as he processed Shigaraki’s command, but the Noumu was faster. It moved off of Aizawa, and was in Midoriya’s face in a flash. 

Hitoshi’s stomach dropped as he watched the Noumu grab a struggling Midoriya by the arm, smashing him into the ground with several loud  _ crack _ s. The Noumu then picked him up, pulling back its arm, and threw Midoriya with an amount of force comparable to All Might.

Midoriya skidded as he was thrown, landing hard on the ground. He laid still for a moment, coughing wetly, then leaned heavily on shaking hands, trying to stand. 

Hitoshi was shocked he was still conscious. Blood dripped down Midoriya’s face from his hairline, and he most likely had multiple broken bones. 

“These stupid NPCs have bigger health bars than I thought,” muttered Shigaraki. “Go on, Noumu. Kill him!”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT- PLEASE READ  
> I will no longer be updating consistently every week  
> I’m really sorry guys, I know this sucks- I would always get angry because that normally meant that the fic would almost update- but that is not what is happening!  
> This story will continue. Up until now, I’ve been constantly writing a few chapters ahead, but now I’ve caught up. I’m really sorry that this is happening on a cliffhanger- but rest assured! The next chapter has all the details planned out and I’ve already started writing it, so it should be out within the next week or so. I will try to post every week(ish), but that’s probably unrealistic for me. I promise at least once a month!  
> Why now? You might be asking. Don’t get me wrong- I’m constantly blown away with the support I’ve gotten- reading your comments and even just seeing Kudos makes my day and gets me motivated! But, school starts back up this week (I’ll be a sophomore in high school) which means that I’ll be so much busier than I have previously been during quarantine.  
> Still- I will try to write as much and as often as I can! I will he posting chapters when they are fully written and edited. I feel this will be better and much lower stress for me- I always work myself up with constant updates and it is very stressful, so I think this change will be much better for me.  
> Anyways, sorry for the long Authors note and cliffhanger :P  
> The next chapter should be up soon.  
> As always, thank you for reading, leaving Kudos, and commenting! Y’all are the best! Stay safe out there!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> USJ finale!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! It’s been a while... but I’ll talk more about that later. For now, I’ll say we’ve reached 500 kudos! (It was a while ago but still) thank you everyone who’s read, left kudos, and commented! Without further ado, the chapter!

Izuku could barely register Shigaraki talking to the Noumu. The scream from the villain was still ringing in his ears, and it sounded eerily like his mother’s— which made it very hard to hear what was going on. 

Suddenly, he could very clearly hear one thing from Shigaraki: “Noumu, kill that green haired brat.”

That effectively brought Izuku back to the present, but it was much too slow. The noumu appeared in his face in a flash, and before he could make a sound, the Noumu grabbed his arm.  _ Hard.  _

Izuku gasped in pain and shock, before being brutally smashed into the ground. He heard several distinct cracks, and it took a moment before he felt the pain. When he did, he felt like  _ screaming.  _ He tried to suck in a deep breath, but the pain in his torso made his vision go white for a moment. 

The next thing he knew, he was flying through the air. He bounced on the ground multiple times, each accompanying another burst of pain. It seemed to take forever for Izuku to stop, and when he did, it was almost a relief. 

Almost.

Instead, there was a loud ringing in his ears, a throbbing ache in his temple, and sharp pains along every inch of his body. It took a moment for his vision to clear, but even when it did the world was spinning dizzyingly. Izuku sucked in a deep breath, trying to ignore the throbbing along his torso, and coughed out wetly. 

Through the haze in his mind, Izuku remembered the situation that he was in. He groped blindly at the ground, and tried desperately to get up. The best he could manage through his shaking limbs was simply leaning on his hands. 

Izuku looked around slowly at the scene in front of him. Shigaraki was clearly saying something, though Izuku couldn’t tell what. Shinsou was standing amidst a group of villains, looking straight at him. There was a horrified look in his eyes and his lips moved, shouting something by the look of it. 

Izuku couldn’t figure out what until he saw the Noumu rushing at him from the corner of his eye. 

His mind went into full on panic as he desperately threw his hand up. There was an almost familiar tugging in his gut, and his shadow elongated— forming a huge wall in front of Izuku. 

His gut lurched and the ground shook.

\-----------------------

Toshinori had been talking with Nezu when young Iida burst uncharacteristically through the door. Immediately, Toshinori hastily puffed into his hero form, ignoring the pain that it caused him.

Nezu paused what he had been saying, and turned to Young Iida. “Iida-kun, what brings you here? I thought your class was doing rescue training with Thirteen at the USJ?”

Iida paused, bending over and gasping. “V-villains attacked us. They got in somehow through a warp gate, and brought at least a hundred other villains with them.”

The air turned cold, and Toshinori had a difficult time reminding himself to breathe.

“Please, sir, bring reinforcements before the situation gets worse than it already is! I had to leave all of my classmates behind to gather the pros for help! Thirteen-sensei is unconscious due to the warper villain, and Aizawa-sensei was fighting off a huge number of villains when I left. Please help!”

Hearing that, Toshinori couldn’t just do nothing. Ignoring Nezu’s calls, he ran out with a swift, “Send other reinforcements, Nezu! I’ll hold them off!”

Why had he let himself spend so much time doing hero work! He had promised himself that his main priority would be to teach and find a successor, and yet, here he was, unable to teach his class because he’d used up all of his time first thing in the morning. And now, because of his foolishness, his class was in danger. 

_ Hurry! They need you, Toshi! _

He willed himself to move faster, even though it caused him to cough out a wad of blood. 

  
  
  
  
  


It seemed to take an eternity to get there, and it was a huge relief when he finally did. 

He burst through the door. “IT’S FINE NOW. WHY? BECAUSE I AM HERE.” 

Toshinori could feel that his signature smile was gone, replaced with a hard frown. He wouldn’t lie, he was feeling very panicked from the situation. More so when he got a proper (very fast, thanks to his many years as a pro) look around. 

As Young Iida had said, there were a multitude of villains scattered around the USJ. In the main plaza, there was a big bunch, with many lying on the ground or clutching injuries. In the middle of a  _ crater  _ in the ground, ( _ how did that get there?)  _ was Aizawa, who appeared to be unconscious and was surrounded in a worrying puddle of blood. 

Standing nearby, viciously fighting a group of villains, was Shinsou. He was looking rather desperate— and with another glance around, Toshinori could see why. 

By a rather frozen shipwreck zone (probably the doing of young Todoroki) were young Asui and young Todoroki, crouching behind some shrubbery. They were looking a few yards away with wide eyes, and Toshinori mentally slapped himself when he realized he hadn’t seen it sooner. 

There was a… huge, hulking figure with a bird's beak and a visible brain screeching as he pounded on… some black thing. With another hard punch to the shield-like black substance (the villain screeched in pain, cuts littering its arm), the black started dissolving, revealing a small, green-haired figure behind. 

_ Crap!  _ Toshinori thought, bolting over. 

Midoriya was panting desperately, arm shaking as he stretched out. 

Toshinori shot out like a flash, seeing Young Shinsou near, and grabbed him as gently as possible. 

The villain smashed against the shield, causing a multitude of cuts to spring up all over its arm again. It paused, and its arm  _ healed itself.  _ The punches continued.

_ Some sort of healing, regeneration quirk, perhaps? _

He sprinted to the shipwreck zone, and grabbed Young Asui and Young Todoroki. 

Toshinori pushed himself further, muscles protesting as he carefully picked up Young Midoriya from the ground, tucking him in his arms with the other students. The shadow substance wavered, before dissolving into thin air.

He ran to Aizawa, gently picking up the unconscious man, and cradled him in his arms with the rest of his students.

As he bolted, Toshinori mentally berated himself for his actions. Wasting his precious time doing petty hero work, instead of being here for his students? What had he been  _ thinking _ ? His students, as well as Aizawa and Thirteen, were nearly dead. 

Stupid. Stupid.  _ Stupid _ .

He pushed his legs further, and bolted over to the bottom of the stairs. At the top were young Yaoyorozu and young Uraraka, who’d placed Thirteen on a stretcher. The back of her suit had been brutally ripped off— probably the doing of one of the villains. 

Toshinori carefully put down Midoriya and Aizawa, before setting the other students on their feet. 

“Wha— where are we— what?” stammered young Shinsou, looking around. 

Young Asui tapped her chin, a small grin sporting her face. “All Might,  _ kero! _ What’s—” 

“I’m sorry, children. I don’t have much time to explain. I need you all to get Young Midoriya and Aizawa out of here as fast as you can.” His signature smile felt forced on his face. “I’ll keep the villains at bay.”

They all looked shocked, but nodded determinedly. 

Gosh. These kids were too young for this. Not even in their second year, not even through their first week of U.A, and they were already dealing with the pressure of hero work. 

Still, they’d been doing well: Yaoyorozu had been making stretchers as Uraraka floated them, while Shinsou, Todoroki, and Asui helped Midoriya and Aizawa to their feet, supporting their weight. 

Midoriya suddenly seemed to become aware of his surroundings, and looked around wildly before wincing in pain. 

Toshinori felt bad leaving them like this, but there was no time to waste. “The rest of the faculty is on their way. You’ve all been excellent, but right now I just need you to get out of here as fast as possible.”

They all nodded once more, and, satisfied that they would be able to handle themselves, Toshinori left. 

  
  
  
  
  


When Toshinori arrived back at the main plaza, he could finally see the main villains. One had blue, nearly white hair, and was covered in… hands(?), while the other was made of a wispy, smoke-like substance. The villain that had been attacking Midoriya hadn’t moved, standing almost statue-like right where it was. 

The hand villain scratched his neck irritatedly— though, behind the hand covering his face, Toshinori could see a manic grin. “All Might. How nice of you to join us!” He sounded like a child on Christmas day, and Toshinori would be lying if it wasn’t a little unnerving. 

Toshinori gathered up his confidence, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, pointing at the villains. “I, the Symbol of Peace, have come to stop you! If you do not surrender, then I will have to take you in by force!”

“Shigaraki Tomura, we should retreat,” muttered the mist villain. “They surely have reinforcements on the way, and our chances of success are now far too low for the odds—”

“No,” Shigaraki hissed. “We still have enough time to deal with All Might. Noumu!” The big black villain snapped to attention. “Keep the Symbol of Peace busy!”

The Noumu ran over, giving Toshinori barely enough time to dodge. 

_ Fast!  _ Toshi danced around the hulking figure, and pulled back his arm. In his head, he shouted, ‘ _ Carolina.. Smash!’ _ and punched the brain of the Noumu with enough power to send out shockwaves. Toshinori never liked killing, but in these circumstances it was a must. 

Except… the Noumu wasn’t moving. It stayed like a rock, with absolutely  _ no  _ visible damage. 

None at all. Even with a quirk like One for All at a high percentage, the Noumu wasn’t disfigured in the slightest. 

Shigaraki laughed. “You like it, All Might? Shock absorption, as well as a few others. Tell me, All Might— how does it feel to meet your match?” He laughed again. “The Number One hero can’t even save his own students! How pathetic.”

“I won’t let you win,” growled Toshinori. “Don’t you dare lay a  _ finger  _ on my students.”

Toshi lunged out again, putting as much power as he could into his arm. He felt the blood seeping into his lungs, but now was not the time for weakness. A bigger shockwave formed as Toshinori threw the punch, right at the stomach of the Noumu. 

And then…

He was stuck. There was a burning pain in his abdomen, and it took him a moment to refocus. Toshinori was… sticking out of the ground, and he could see the Noumu’s hand going straight through his distorted stomach. 

Then, like an afterthought, he saw the warp gate— right above his torso and under his chest, where his upper half stuck out of the ground a few feet away.

_ Crap—  _ he coughed out a wad of blood onto the ground, not having enough time to cover in with his hand. 

Shigaraki laughed, high pitched and manic. “Well done, Kurogiri. Now, All Might…” He walked over to Toshinori’s face. “How does it feel to be completely  _ helpless _ ?” Spittle was practically flying out of his mouth at this point, his full set of teeth shining in glee. “All that power, and you're still no match for my Noumu. I’m going to enjoy this.”

\------------------------

Hitoshi shook slightly, panting heavily to force his body to move. He was half-carrying, half-dragging a semi-conscious Midoriya up the stairs, and the movement made Hitoshi realize just how tired he was, though adrenaline was still pumping through his veins. 

Asui—  _ Tsuyu _ , she had insisted— and Todoroki were slightly up ahead, carrying Aizawa-sensei between the two of them. Tsuyu was using her tongue to support Aizawa’s torso, and the both of them had one arm draped around their shoulders for proper support. 

From behind, Hitoshi could hear some loud movements, and occasionally a shockwave whipped his hair into his face. He desperately wanted to turn around and see what was going on, but his job of getting Midoriya and Aizawa-sensei to safety took first priority. 

Beside him, Midoriya was trying his best to pull his own weight, but it was clear that his injuries were getting the better of him. He limped horribly and coughed out wetly every few minutes, blood dribbling from his lips. 

It took an excruciatingly long time to reach the top of the stairs (though it was likely only a few minutes), and when they did, Midoriya slumped to the ground in relief. Figuring there was no harm, Hitoshi let him be as he surveyed the area. 

Hitoshi’s heart dropped. 

All Might was… stuck inside one of Kurogiri’s portals. His lower half was standing (was that a  _ hand  _ sticking through his abdomen?) while his upper half was sticking out of the ground. 

That wasn’t even the worst part. Shigaraki was walking up to All Might, clearly saying something, though Hitoshi couldn’t tell what from this distance. 

“Um… guys?” Hitoshi called out. Todoroki, Tsuyu, Uraraka, and Yaoyorozu’s heads turned to him. “You… might want to take a look at this.”

They all came (after Yaoyorozu and Uraraka double checked Aizawa on his stretcher) and surveyed the situation. Hitoshi could see the moment realization dawned on them.

Then, before he could get another word in, maybe put together a plan, Todoroki dashed off. 

They all tried calling out, but either Todoroki couldn’t hear them, or didn’t care. 

Hitoshi thought about following him, but figured that the villains probably know about his quirk and wouldn’t fall for it. That, and he physically wasn’t strong enough to take on the major villains. He would probably decay far faster than he could do any damage to them. 

Hitoshi was effectively brought back to the present when he heard Uraraka and Yaoyorozu shouting behind him.

“Midoriya-kun!” Yaoyorozu practically begged. “You need to get onto the stretcher, for your own good!” Uraraka nodded her head in agreement, but Midoriya seemed to be outrightly refusing them. Instead of getting on the stretcher like a normal person, he tried to stand up. 

Midoriya leaned his weight onto trembling hands, then shakily, slowly, got to his feet. He stumbled for a moment, and the girls reached out their hands to help, but he steadied himself on his own. 

Midoriya started walking over to Hitoshi. Hitoshi would have forced Midoriya to get into the stretcher too, but he understood where Midoriya was coming from. Their classmates were in danger and he probably wanted to help, so Hitoshi let him slowly walk to the edge without any protest. 

It looked as though Midoriya was about to say something— when suddenly there was an explosion, big enough that Hitoshi couldn’t see what’s happening. It took a moment for the smoke to clear. When it finally did, Hitoshi could see… Bakugou. He was standing over a fallen Kurogiri, grinning maniacally. 

Finally, the realization dawned on Hitoshi, and he turned his head. All Might was, as he suspected, out of the portal. His gut was still bleeding, dyeing his button up shirt red. Hitoshi could see the wound through the hole in his shirt, but the situation wasn’t as dire as it had been previously. 

Though… there was still the matter of the Noumu. And Shigaraki. 

The Noumu in question stood perfectly still just a few feet away from the group, as Shigaraki ran at Bakugou. Kurogiri had started to get up, though he looked dazed— even from a distance. 

Suddenly, a huge mound of ice erupted, freezing the Noumu in place. Standing behind it, with steam coming from his mouth and panting from exertion, was Todoroki. 

_ So that’s where he went,  _ Hitoshi realized. 

The villains paused and glanced over, so Bakugou used the distraction to dash away from Shigaraki and Kurogiri, jogging to a stop by Todoroki. 

“THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE, YOUNG BAKUGOU, YOUNG TODOROKI.” All Might huffed as he stood up, grimacing slightly. He took in a deep breath, steeling his signature smile on his face. “NOW, I MUST INSIST THAT YOU LEAVE THE AREA, FOR YOUR SAFETY.”

They both opened their mouths, most likely to protest, but All Might cut them off. 

“I’LL BE FINE. PLEASE, LEAVE WHILE I DEAL WITH THEM.” His smile turned to a hard frown, and he shifted his head to glare at the villains.

Seemingly reassured, Bakugou and Todoroki both sprinted to the steps. 

Shigaraki growled, before calling out, “Noumu, kill those brats. Let’s teach All Might a lesson.”

Faster than Hitoshi could blink, the Noumu broke the hulk of ice in one burst, and rushed over to Bakugou and Todoroki. It was just about to attack Bakugou, reeling it’s hulking fist back, when—

The impact of the blow caused a huge ripple of air. Dust flew up from the ground, slightly obscuring Hitoshi’s vision. 

Standing in the place of Bakugou was All Might, with the Noumu’s fist digging straight into his gut. Bakugou was on the ground a few feet away, looking at All Might with wide eyes. 

All Might took in a breath and coughed, blood splattering on the ground. Hitoshi winced. That… couldn’t be a good sign. All Might shifted his foot slightly, most likely to steady himself, but was on his knees with another cough of blood. 

Shigaraki laughed. “Well, All Might. Look at you, being such a good hero!” He clapped his hands together, and a manic grin split his features, pulling on his chapped lips. “Now die.”

The Noumu moved faster than Hitoshi could blink. One moment the Noumu was there, and the next, All Might was flying across the courtyard. He skipped thrice, and slammed to a stop when his back hit the walls of the USJ. 

Both Todoroki and Bakugou stared, but quickly shook out of their stupor. Todoroki turned his head to Bakugou and whispered something. Bakugou nodded curtly and they both sprinted towards the stairs leading to the entrance. 

Beside Hitoshi, Midoriya extended his hand. His eyes were pointed straight at the Noumu, and his teeth were gritted in concentration. 

Hitoshi turned to see what he was so focused on. He couldn’t help the small gasp he let out. 

A few feet, inches maybe, from All Might’s slightly moving form, was a huge ball of… was that  _ Midoriya’s quirk? _

It bulged, reminding Hitoshi of some demonic hatching egg or something. Inside the dome, the Noumu screeched, just like it did when it encountered Midoriya’s wall. A few seconds later, there was another bulge. 

Then another. 

And another. 

It got faster and faster, the Noumu’s cries piercing Hitoshi’s ears. 

Midoriya let out a small grunt, eyes shut tight in concentration. When Hitoshi looked closer, he realized that Midoriya’s whole body shook. Sweat trickled down his face, and his breathing was ragged and irregular. 

Uraraka and Yaoyorozu came around and glanced between themselves, Midoriya, and the Noumu in the shadow. Uraraka reached out her hand, likely in an attempt to help Midoriya in some way, when Midoriya yelled out in pain. 

Hitoshi turned his head just in time to see the black sphere get one final punch, so hard that the ground trembled beneath Hitoshi’s feet. 

Midoriya gasped softly before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he crumbled to the ground. Hitoshi, Uraraka, and Yaoyorozu managed to catch him right before he hit. 

Midoriya skin was slick with sweat, his face unnaturally pale. 

They exchange worried glances, and gently set him onto the ground. Hitoshi turned his head, trusting Uraraka and Yaoyorozu to watch over him.

The Noumu stood still, blood dripping down practically every inch of its hulking body. 

_ The sphere must’ve been doing damage the whole time,  _ Hitoshi realized. 

But… the wounds seem to be closing. The flesh pulled itself together, leaving no trace that there were any wounds to begin with. 

All Might stood just a few feet away. Blood still dripped from the corner of his mouth as he hunched over slightly where he got punched in the gut, but overall, he looked better than before. 

All Might’s back straightened, and Hitoshi saw the slight wince of pain the action gave him. He seemed to grow even bigger than before, and he boldly declared, “IT’S FINE NOW. WHY? BECAUSE I AM HERE.” His signature grin was back, though it seemed… angry. “NOW IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO PAY.”

The force of the punch sent more shockwaves through the air. 

The Noumu blocked it easily, throwing its own punch. 

They continued, back and forth, until their arms were moving at such a speed that Hitoshi couldn't even properly see what was happening. The force of the punches increased, and the area around All Might and the Noumu started to resemble some sort of tornado. 

All Might seemed to slow down, but then had a determined gleam in his eye. He reeled his arm back, and shouted, “REMEMBER THESE WORDS, NOUMU. GO BEYOND… _ PLUS ULTRA! _ ” 

He delivered the punch straight in the Noumu’s gut. The punch was harder than any other so far, and the power of it sent the Noumu straight through the roof. The shockwave blew through the USJ like an explosion, nearly sending Shigaraki and Kurogiri to their knees. Hitoshi was suddenly grateful that he’d already been sitting down— otherwise, he might’ve been blown off of his feet. Uraraka and Yaoyorozu nearly were too, as they had just finished securing Midoriya onto the stretcher. 

All Might slowly lowered his fist, a triumphant grin on his face. “NOW!” He shouted, “SURRENDER, OR I WILL BE FORCED TO ELIMINATE YOU, HERE AND NOW!”

“Perhaps All Might is correct,” said Kurogiri, leaning slightly towards Shigaraki. “He defeated our Noumu and the rest of the U.A staff is likely on their way as we speak.”

Shigaraki growled, scratching furiously at his neck. “You have a point, but… we need to do  _ something _ .” He leaned over and whispered something to Kurogiri, and, after a moment of reluctance, Kurogiri complied. 

A portal appeared right under Shigaraki’s feet, and he vanished from sight. 

Hitoshi moved his head left and right, trying to see where Shigaraki would appear. From the corner of his eye, he saw a portal appear right by Bakugou, who was standing with Todoroki and Tsuyu by Aizawa sensei. They were helping secure the bandages around their teacher’s elbow and head.

Shigaraki suddenly popped out of the portal, and reached his hand directly in front of Bakugou’s face. It seemed to take an eternity (though it was likely only a couple of seconds)— slowly, excruciatingly, until his hand was mere millimeters from Bakugou’s face. 

Hitoshi was frozen in shock, and wished with every ounce of his being that he could do something. Anything. 

The others seem to be in a similar situation. Todoroki had taken a step back, mouth wide with shock. Tsuyu hadn’t moved a muscle, but her eyes betrayed her panic. Uraraka and Yaoyorozu had their hands over their mouths, eyes horrified. 

Shigaraki’s hand was seconds away from touching Bakugou’s face, when a gunshot rang through the air. 

There was a bullet hole in the middle of Shigaraki’s arm, and once he processed the pain, he roared. Two more shots rang out before Shigaraki dropped through another portal. 

Shigaraki reappeared next to Kurogiri. 

“Shigaraki Tomura, I believe it is time to take our leave.” said Kurogiri, sounding near-panicked. 

Shigaraki hesitated for a moment, before nodding begrudgingly. “Fine, Kurogiri. Let’s go. These stupid heroes aren’t worth my time anyways.”

Kurogiri nodded, then spread out his arm. The two of them vanished in the portal in an instant. 

“Put your hands in the air!” shouted Snipe, standing with the other teachers and Iida at U.A in the doorway. 

They all quickly spread out, apprehending all of the minor villains who had gathered in the plaza and around the entirety of the USJ. 

A medical team ran in, grabbing the stretchers that contained Thirteen sensei, Aizawa sensei, and Midoriya, and rushed them to an ambulance waiting outside. 

On top of that, they also did a quick check on all of the students. When they got to Hitoshi and the others, they insisted that they were fine, and said that they should check the others.

It took a while, but after everything was dealt with, Hitoshi finally felt like he could properly breathe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! This took a while, as you can see, but I’m hoping to be able to post more once I get used to my new schedule. Also, I got a beta- Sasanoo! We’ve been editing the first 8 chapters, so that should be done soon(ish)  
> Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thank you for reading!
> 
> Edit: As of 10/10/2020 ALL previous chapters have been fully edited— you can reread if you want, but nothing major was changed.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of cool-down after the chaos of the USJ... and some angst :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I posted this in last chapters end notes but I’ll do it again. As of 10/10/2020 ALL previous chapters have been fully edited. If you want to go and reread them you can, but nothing major was changed. Mostly grammar issues :)  
> Enjoy the chapter!

Inko got two very, very scary calls that day. The first was from the principal of U.A., and the second from the Musutafu local hospital. 

Her son, her  _ baby boy, _ had been attacked by villains on campus, and was now in the  _ hospital  _ because his injuries were so severe. The Principal had requested that she come to the hospital as soon as possible, and she was horribly tempted to leave her shift and do just that. But… she couldn’t just leave unannounced. Besides, she only had an hour left, so what was the harm?

Inko’s mind was only half-aware of what she was doing, the years of monotonous work making the muscle memory come easy. Her mind kept wandering to Izuku. 

When Izuku was younger, he would come home every day and tell her anything and everything that happened. He would ramble on and on about Mitsuki’s boy— how cool he and his quirk were, how naturally he led others. Izuku would tell her everything he could possibly remember about his classes, and every other detail his little mind could think of. There was always such a bright gleam in his eye, so hopeful and optimistic.

Then he got his quirk. Izuku was so  _ excited  _ to finally fit in with everyone else; he couldn’t even sit still during the quirk apprehension test. The next morning he left the house with evident excitement, barely even saying a word to her before slamming the door closed. 

When he came home that same day, he entered in uncharacteristic silence. Inko could see that something was bothering him— he’d never been very good at hiding his emotions. Tears were in the corner of his eyes as he walked as fast as he could to his room, shutting it quietly so Inko wouldn’t hear it.

She gave him a moment to himself, before cracking the door open. Izuku was on his bed, facing the wall. He sniffled quietly, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. Inko opened the door just enough so she could slip in, then crept over to the bed. She slowly raised her hand to his shoulder, not wanting to startle him, and gave him a light tap. 

He swung around quickly, eyes wide with panic, and raised his arm. The next thing Inko knew, her arm was hot with pain, and something wet was dripping from it. She glanced down, and her breath caught in her throat when she saw the deep gash running along her forearm. Her hand reached up unconsciously to put pressure on the wound as she glanced at Izuku. 

He was staring at her like she was a ghost, not entirely aware of what had just happened. Inko couldn’t recall everything vividly, but she did remember being… afraid. Afraid of her son's quirk. 

In the years since, Inko had come to regret that day more and more. She knew she could’ve been better—  _ should’ve _ been better. 

After that day, the light in Izuku’s eyes was lost. He stopped coming to her for anything, and even hid things from her. She could see him come home everyday with bruises and burns (was it Katsuki who did that?). It hurt her to see, and she desperately wished she could help, but… 

No. She really didn’t have any excuse. Although Izuku was distant, she could’ve bridged that gap. 

Instead, she busied herself. She spent extra hours at work, and though they didn’t have lots of money, they had enough that Inko could’ve stayed at home more than she did. 

Her train of thought led her to stop working and zone out for a bit, but eventually the hour was over. She quickly packed up her things, then left as fast as she could. 

The car ride to the hospital seemed to take forever, and her hands got clammier the more time went by. 

When she finally arrived at the hospital, she nearly stumbled over her own feet in an attempt to get to Izuku’s room faster. 

The attendant at the front desk smiled brightly. “How may I help you, ma’am?” she asked.

“My— my son is here. Midoriya Izuku.” She stumbled over her words, heart pounding in nervous anticipation. Why was she so scared? She supposed that she was anxious for the health of her son, but that wasn’t quite it. Was she nervous to simply… see him again? Maybe talk? It had been so long since they had a decent conversation. How would he react? Would he be awake? Her brain was moving a mile a minute, and she barely heard the attendant speak.

“He’s on the bottom floor, where underground heroes are normally kept, for security reasons. Are you his mother?”

“Y-yes. That’s me. Which room?”

The attendant glanced at her monitor screen. “U-7. Third on the right.”

Inko was already walking away, but she managed a short  _ “thank you” _ over her shoulder. 

Her heels clicked on the ground, matching her quick pace. She reached the lobby elevator and pressed the button. Inko’ hands fidgeted with the handle of her purse as she chewed on her lip to help ease her nerves.

Finally, the elevator opened. She rushed in, and pressed the bottom button with a big letter U on it. 

The music in the elevator seemed somber. Inko struggled to keep her emotions under control. 

The moment the doors of the elevator opened, she all but ran out. She mumbled the door numbers under her breath as she went, ignoring everyone in the area. A few doctors looked as if they wanted to speak to her, maybe ask her where she was going, but Inko just sped on through.

Just as the attendant had said, U-7 was the third on the right. There was a doctor standing outside, and she knew she couldn’t avoid him. 

“Are you…” he checked his clipboard. “Inko Midoriya?”

Inko straightened slightly. “Yes.”

“Alright, come with me.”

He opened the door quietly, then stood beside it so she could enter. Inko took in a steadying breath (though it’s effect fell flat) and walked inside. 

Her eyes immediately fell on Izuku. He was lying in the middle of the stark white bed, with an IV drip and heart monitor. There wasn’t a breathing mask, which she took as a small miracle, but he was worryingly pale. His arm was in a cast, and there were multiple bandages scattered across his skin. 

“Why don’t you take a seat?” The doctor said, gesturing to a chair sitting a few feet from Izuku’s bed. 

Inko did so, then gestured for the doctor to continue. 

“Your son’s condition is stable, luckily. His left forearm was broken, as well as multiple ribs. One of which punctured his lung.”

Her heart nearly skipped a beat, and she forced herself to stay calm and let the doctor continue.

“He suffered a minor concussion— but other than that, he only had scrapes and bruises.” He said. “We immediately took care of the punctured lung broken ribs, using some of the best healing quirks in the area, which is why he doesn’t have a breathing mask on, currently. We didn’t want to use too many quirks on him so we wouldn’t use up what little stamina he had left. He’ll need to stay here overnight, but he should be free tomorrow morning, if no complications arise.”

He looked up at her. Inko paused a moment, not quite sure what to say. All she could find was a simple “thank you.” 

The doctor nodded, then left the room, closing the door silently behind him. Inko closed her eyes and ducked her head down, trying to sort through a storm of thoughts and emotions. It took a while, but she finally made up her mind and opened her eyes again.

Izuku was laying still on the bed, the heart monitor beeping dutifully beside him. Her hand reached out and grasped his gently. It was rough and calloused (When had that happened? When had her baby boy become so strong, so mature?). She desperately wished to talk to him, to apologize,  _ anything _ — but he had been through so much lately. She couldn’t just barge back into his life all at once, especially now. 

Although every inch of her being was begging to talk to him, Inko refrained. His health was her first priority, and even though it would take some time, she was determined to do everything in her power to involve herself in his life once more. 

She could be better. She  _ would  _ be better.

\-----------------------

Ochako walked into the hospital early the morning after the USJ incident (as it had been labeled by Kaminari the previous day). So early, in fact, that the sun was just barely visible on the horizon and the sky still showed hints of stars. 

Ochako had hardly gotten any sleep the previous night, and what little she did receive was filled with nightmares. After the heroes had arrived yesterday, everything was a flurry of motion. Eventually all of her classmates (except one) waited outside, sitting on curbs while being checked on. Almost everyone had shock blankets around their shoulders, and the area was silent, save for the talking of police officers and heroes. 

Soon enough, the shock had worn off— for some of them at least, and there was some light-hearted chatter heard among some of her classmates. Ochako hadn’t joined in. She sat on the curb with Iida, Shinsou, and Kirishima in silence. They all had serious expressions on their faces; Ochako could only guess that it was because of their friend. 

She empathized. Midoriya had done  _ so much  _ for them, while Ochako sat around and took care of their teachers. She knew she played a part, especially to take down Kurogiri, but after that— she did  _ nothing. _ All she did was sit on the sidelines and watch. And because of that, her friend got hurt. 

The shame and guilt didn’t go away, leaving her with a bone-deep exhaustion. Ochako had called her parents eventually, trying to hold herself together for their sake, but the moment she heard their voices her emotions took hold. It took a while to calm down, and even longer to fully explain what happened. Eventually, her exhaustion got the better of her, and she fell into a restless sleep.

She woke the next morning just as tired as the night before, but after a quick shower her mind was made up, and she left as soon as she possibly could to get to the hospital. 

The hospital attendant smiled brightly as Ochako walked in. “Here to visit someone, sweetie?”

“Um, yes. Midori—Midoriya Izuku.” Ochako stuttered.

She nodded, then spent a moment searching something up on her computer. 

“I’m afraid he won’t be open to visitors other than family for another hour. Are you alright waiting?”

Ochako nodded, then slowly walked to the waiting room seats. She picked nervously at the skin of her nails, before settling on reading one of the provided magazines. None of the words she read fully processed in her head, but at least she had something to do. 

It had been a little over 30 minutes when the doors opened, and in walked a familiar figure. 

“Iida-kun?” Ochako asked, standing up and walking over. 

Iida started slightly, turning his head towards her. “Oh, Ochako-san! What a pleasant surprise! What are you doing here?”

Her gaze turned to the ground. 

“Oh, I see. Well, would it be alright if I waited with you?”

Ochako nodded, trying to force a grin on her face but failing. Iida followed her to her seat, and they both sat in silence. She couldn’t tell if it was uncomfortable or not. 

Neither of them tried to start up a conversation however, and soon they both relaxed slightly in each others’ presence. 

Only a few minutes passed when they heard a familiar voice. 

“Oh, hey Iida, Uraraka.” Shinsou waved his hand in greeting as he stood at the doorway. The bags under his eyes were larger than usual, which was really something.

He walked over and sat down next to the two of them, quickly pulling out his phone. The tension in the air thickened slightly, and Ochako tried her best not to think too deeply about it. 

Time slowly crept on. Visiting hours were nearly upon them when the doors opened again. 

“Oh, hey! Uraraka, Iida, Shinsou, good to see ya!” Called Kirishima energetically, waving his arm back and forth in the air. Kouda gave a small wave as well.

Ochako, Shinsou, and Iida waved back. The tension in the air was thick, but Ochako’s mood was slightly better with Kirishima’s optimism.

Kouda and Kirishima walked over and sat down. Light chatter started up, all of them carefully avoiding any serious topics. Ochako only paid some attention to the conversation, making sure to keep the clock in her peripheral. 

Finally the clock hit 7:00. Ochako immediately stood up, the others following seconds later. No one said anything; they simply walked back up to the attendant and got the room number. 

In Ochako’s mind, the wait had taken forever, but at long last they were finally able to visit Midoriya. 

Her stomach was in knots of nervousness when the elevator finally reached the correct floor. Would Midoriya be awake? Was he okay? The last time Ochako had seen him he’d looked pretty bad— bleeding heavily from the head, various injuries scattered across his body, and passed out from quirk exhaustion. The receptionist had said that Midoriya would be released today, but that didn’t ease Ochako’s worries. 

Iida gently tapped her hand, bringing Ochako back to the present. Kirishima, Shinsou, and Kouda were stepping out, and the door to the elevator was open. Iida’s eyebrows furrowed slightly in worry. Ochako shook her head, forcing a small grin on her lips. That seemed to satisfy Iida enough, and they both stepped off.

When they approached the door, Kirishima turned to face everyone else. “Should we knock? Do you think he’s asleep?”

Everyone shrugged, so they settled on a light door tap with their knuckles. There was no response. Kirishima took in a breath and carefully, and slowly opened the door. 

The room was stark white and the smell of antiseptic lingered in the air. Ochako had always heard that hospitals were depressing, and after seeing it in person she couldn’t help but agree. 

Everyone tried to be quiet when they saw that Midoriya was sleeping, but, unfortunately for them, Kirishima accidentally bumped into a chair with his hip. It made a quiet  _ scrrr  _ across the tiled floor. The sound wasn’t loud, but it was enough to wake Midoriya up. 

He shot upright in an instant, body rigid and eyes wide. The blue hospital gown looked baggy on his small form. Ochako brought up her hands. “ _ Sorry _ , Midori! We didn’t mean to wake you up!” She tried to keep her voice soft so he wouldn’t startle again. 

After a moment of glancing around, Midoriya’s shoulders lowered, posture relaxing slightly. “Um, h-hi?” he said warily.

Kirishima grinned. “Heya, buddy!” He shouted enthusiastically. “We were really worried, so we decided to visit you!” 

Midoriya wasn’t normally an expressive person, but now seemed to be an exception. It might’ve just been the medication, his evident exhaustion, or maybe something else, but his face turned to one of confusion. His eyebrows wrinkled together, and his eyes squinted slightly.

Ochako didn’t understand why he would be confused; wasn’t it normal for friends to visit? To care?

She put the thought aside for now, focusing on more pressing matters. 

“So, Midori. How are you? I bet you’re really tired, but do your injuries hurt? Did they heal everything?” Ochako questioned.

If Midoriya looked confused before, it wasn’t anything compared to now. It took him several moments to regain his composure, and even then there were still hints of confusion on his face.

“I-I-uh,” Midoriya stuttered out. “I’m… fine?” 

He ended it like he was unsure about that fact himself. Midoriya’s head dropped slightly and he glanced to the side, avoiding eye contact. 

Everyone also seemed to sense his uncomfort, so Ochako took it upon herself to change the topic. 

“Hey Midori— everyone, actually— can I have your phone numbers?” Ochako pulled out her own phone: an old-fashioned pink flip phone. She was slightly embarrassed about it, but she knew she couldn’t really complain.

All her life her parents worked hard to earn money, and even though it was hard, they did their best to make sure Ochako had a chance of becoming a pro hero. Sure, she had to live on her own in an old apartment, and always had to put up with hand-me-downs and poor quality items like her phone, but she was always grateful. 

Ochako shook her head slightly, turning her focus back to the present. 

Midoriya was sitting up straight, and his face was now back to his normal, stoic self. His hands were clasped tightly together, clenching and unclenching rhythmically. 

Iida cleared his throat. “I think that’s a great idea, Uraraka-san!” His hand brought out his phone from his pocket in a flash. 

“Yeah!” Kirishima yelled. “Let’s make a group chat!”

Kouda nodded in agreement. 

Shinsou said, “Sounds good to me.”

They all pulled out their phones. Except Midoriya. He hadn’t moved throughout the entirety of the conversation, simply watching and listening. 

“Um, Midori?” Ochako said softly. His head swiveled over in her direction fast, like he’d just become aware of what was happening. “Do you have your phone?”

Midoriya paused, then raised his hands up and started signing. After he finished Shinsou and Kouda nodded in understanding. 

Ochako rubbed the back of her neck. “I only understood a little; could you translate?”

Shinsou nodded. “He said that he doesn’t remember what happened to his phone. It might’ve been broken sometime yesterday.”

Midoriya looked down, bracing himself for something, though Ochako couldn’t tell what. 

“That is completely understandable, Midoriya-san!” Iida said, chopping his hands. “If you could just tell us your phone number we’ll create the chat, and hopefully you find your phone soon!”

Midoriya nodded slowly, then softly told Iida his number. 

Light conversation started up after that, though it didn’t last long. Midoriya was hardly saying (or signing) anything, and as time went on he started looking more and more exhausted. 

“Guys!” Ochako said. “We should go. Midori needs to rest before he’s able to leave.”

Everyone nodded in understanding and started gathering their belongings. 

Right before they left the room, Shinsou called out, “No one’s said it yet, but I’m sure we’re all thinking it. Thank you, for what you did yesterday.” Then Shinsou smiled. 

Ochako nodded her head alongside the others, and they all gave their goodbyes. 

Although Midoriya didn’t say anything, even looking shocked stiff at the thanks, Ochako could've sworn that he smiled— just a bit, right as they left the room. 

\---------------------------

Izuku sat in the car silently, shutting the door behind him.

There was an awkward silence for a moment, before Izuku’s mom asked: “How are you?” That was the third time Izuku had been asked that in 24 hours. 

The first had been last night when he first woke up. The first few minutes had been a blur, but he remembered panicking, thinking he was still at the USJ. Eventually the doctors calmed him down, though not after having received a few bruises.

As soon as the panic settled, Izuku was very aware of his pounding headache and the ache in his torso and arm. 

The doctor’s seemed to sense his discomfort. “How are you, Midoriya-kun? On a scale of 1-10, how much pain are you in? Could you tell me if you're feeling any discomfort?” They said.

That had made Izuku freeze. People wondering how he was? That phrase was something he hadn’t heard in what had to be years. He didn’t really know what to think.

The second time was this morning, when Uraraka, Iida, Shinsou, Kirishima, and Kouda came to… visit him? Izuku wasn’t sure why they would come, but the presence of… he wasn’t sure what to call them. Acquaintances? Would that be too assuming of him? Either way, he was confused that they came. 

As soon as they entered, they’d asked how he was. Again, Izuku wasn’t sure how to respond. He gave his best attempt to reassure them; they all looked tense and nervous for some reason. 

And then, as they were leaving, Shinsou had said something that shook Izuku to his very core. “No one’s said it yet, but I’m sure we’re all thinking it. Thank you, for what you did yesterday.” 

He didn’t even have a chance to think about it before they left. Something in him felt oddly warm, but that didn’t even compare to his confusion. Why would they thank him? All Izuku did was try to  _ survive  _ out there; he hadn’t done anything more than the rest of his classmates. And, because of his carelessness, he allowed himself to get injured. 

But even though Izuku hardly knew these people, they were so… kind. It was a stark contrast to his treatment at Aldera, and he wasn’t sure that it would last, but it still felt really good. 

Shortly after his classmates left, the doctors had come in again for a final check-up. They announced that he was free to leave, so long as he got more rest at home. They also said that Izuku’s mother was waiting in her car outside.

He was slightly shocked, but supposed that she had gotten a call from them about his treatment in the hospital, so he just accepted it and moved on. 

There hadn’t been much to pack, just himself and some clothes he had been told were left by his mother, so he left almost as soon as the doctors did. 

When Izuku heard his mom ask how he was, even though he had heard it multiple times, he was still shocked. Izuku had been so caught up in the past that he nearly missed what was happening in the present. He shrugged, looking away as he fastened his seatbelt.

The car started off, and the first few minutes of the drive passed in silence. Although Izuku was tired, his eyelids drooping down at some points, he forced himself to stay awake. 

“Izuku,” his mother said quietly. “I…” She trailed off, as if she wasn’t sure what quite to say. Her fingers tapped softly on the steering wheel. 

The rest of the car ride passed in complete silence. Izuku knew that the drive couldn’t have been longer than 15 minutes, but it felt like it lasted an eternity. He spent the entirety of it looking out the window, aware of his mother’s glances at the back of his head. 

When they arrived at the parking lot for their apartment complex, Izuku got out as quickly as he could. He didn’t want to be rude and disrespect his mother’s kindness, so he waited to start walking until she was ready to go. 

Although they walked up together, neither of them spoke a word. Izuku glanced back at his mother occasionally, but her head was down and she looked lost in thought, so he let her be. 

Her mind seemed to be made up as they reached their apartment door. Izuku opened it and walked in, his mother close behind. As soon as the door closed, she spoke up. “Izuku, I… know I haven’t always been there for you.” She spoke carefully. “But I’ve been thinking, and… I want to help you, at least while you’re recovering.

“You don’t have to tell me everything, or  _ anything _ , if you don’t want to, but… please. Let me be here for you.”

Those words struck deep in Izuku’s heart, and he could feel tears welling up in his eyes. He had wished for  _ so long  _ to hear those words. But he couldn’t rely on them. 

Izuku nodded, a small, fast motion, but it seemed that his mom saw it nonetheless. She smiled softly, a single tear running down her cheek. 

If she decided now was her time to play mom, he would let her. It probably wouldn’t last— nothing good ever did, but he would take it while it was there. This wouldn’t fix anything, though, not truly. Izuku knew it. 

Too tired to think, let alone talk, he walked silently over to his room. Izuku layed down on his bed, and quickly fell into a dark, dreamless sleep. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... yeah. I wasn’t really planning on Inko having a redemption arc, but I just love her too much! I started her section with little planning and just let my ideas take me from there lol.   
> Anywho. Lately I’ve been... unmotivated? Uninspired? Basically, I’ve had writers block for a bit and have had to force myself to write for the past two months. Not very fun. I’m hoping to get back into the flow soon but you never know with these things. I’ll probably just keep writing, but updates might be a little bit slower.   
> Regardless, thank you for reading! Comments make my day so... tell me what you think! Predictions, ideas, anything!   
> A HUGE thank you to my Beta, Sasanoo!   
> And thank you everyone for the support! Stay healthy!!!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ummmm... hi. Sorry this took so long, writers block is kicking me in the butt. This chapter was very unmotivated the whole time, but I hope it meets expectations.  
> Happy reading!

Shouta, clad head to foot in bandages, slowly opened the door to U.A.’s conference room and walked inside. He was the last to arrive, though he wasn’t surprised. The hospital had only just released him, with strong advice to rest, but Shouta wasn’t allowed that comfort—he had a meeting to attend. 

Principal Nezu stood on the table at the head of the room, with other U.A. staff surrounding the remainder of the table. From a glance, Shouta could spot Nemuri, Hizashi, Vlad, and Yagi, as well as Detective Tsukauchi. They were all tense, and eyed Shouta with concern.

“Good morning, Aizawa-kun!” Nezu called, the smile on his face oddly serious. He then gestured to an open chair. “Please, take a seat.”

Shouta grunted, then sat as instructed. 

“I am sure you are all well aware of why we are here,” Nezu started. “But I’ll restate our issues. Villains—who we’ve been told call the “ _ League of Villains _ ”—have infiltrated campus. We are lacking any other information. Yagi-san, would you mind giving us a few more details?”

Yagi nodded, shifting slightly in his seat. “There were dozens of villains, but the ringleaders, from what I could see, were Tomura Shigaraki and a mist villain named Kurogiri.” He looked over to Shouta, who nodded at him to continue. “Shigaraki had an… interesting mindset. It was almost… childlike. Whenever something didn’t go his way, he threw what I could only describe as a temper tantrum. Kurogiri, however, seemed much more level-headed—he was almost like a, how to say it...  _ babysitter _ to Shigaraki? He talked sense into the boy and persuaded them to escape before we could catch them.”

“I agree,” Shouta said. “Shigaraki’s emotional state was very easily manipulated by whatever was happening. It could be very dangerous, especially considering his decaying quirk.” Shouta was very suddenly aware of the still tender skin around his elbow. It pulsed with pain, as if recognizing what he was saying. 

“The villains we captured all swore allegiance to Shigaraki.” The faces around the table were contemplative, and Tsukauchi continued. “They may have been attracted to the League because of his mindset, and the pressure of modern heroes.”

The detective paused. “I’ll be working closely with the police to hopefully capture more criminals. We’ll be sure to keep you updated.”

Nezu nodded seriously from Shouta’s shoulder.  _ When did he get there? _

“Thank you, Tsukauchi-san. If that is all there is to say on this topic, we’ll move on. Now for the real question: What should we do about the Sports Festival?”

The room grew quiet.

\----------------------

Izuku woke up the next morning feeling exhausted and slightly disoriented. His entire body ached, and it took him a moment to realize why. 

He laid in silence for a while, before eventually gathering his thoughts and got out of bed. His room was dark, curtains drawn, but Izuku could tell it was morning through the cracks at the sides. 

It was a school day—Izuku’s classmates had told him the day before—so he grabbed his uniform and slowly got dressed. He was wary of his left forearm, which was still bandaged in a sling, as well as his torso, which ached at almost every movement. He didn’t bother to tame his hair. 

Once that was done, he looked over by his bed and noticed his phone. Huh, he must’ve left it here before the USJ… or his Mom brought it in somewhere. Either way, he was grateful. 

As he opened it, the screen flashed with a multitude of messages, all of which from unknown numbers. He opened up his messages app, then added contacts to the names provided with each text. The group chat that Uraraka set up had a few messages already, but a glance at the clock made Izuku close the phone and leave the room.

“Oh, good morning, Izuku!” called his mother from the kitchen. Izuku jumped slightly, not expecting her to, well… be here. She normally worked from early in the morning to late at night, but it varied depending on her schedule. Either way, Izuku was used to being alone in the apartment almost all the time, so seeing her out was strange. 

Izuku’s mom gestured to a pan on the stove, which contained American-style scrambled eggs. They smelled good. “Would you like some breakfast?”

He hesitated a moment, before realizing just how  _ hungry  _ he was. The last proper meal he’d had had been… a while ago. Izuku had eaten some at the hospital, but the food had been so unappetizing that he’d only taken a few bites. He nodded, and his mother grinned softly. 

“Alright. You can take a seat, it’s almost ready.”

Izuku slowly slid into his seat. His head was almost spinning as he processed the information. His mom was… here, for the first time in a  _ long  _ time. She had said the night before that she wanted to be here, to help him. It was… strange, to say the least. 

After a few minutes, Izuku’s mother set his plate on the table in front of him, and sat down. The food was good, but he still had to force himself to eat. Izuku wasn’t used to eating until he was full, let alone anything substantial—so he only took a few bites. Then he forced himself to eat a few more, just to be polite. He wouldn’t take his mother’s kindness for granted. 

They both ate in an awkward silence. 

Izuku quickly tried finishing up and cleared his dishes. “I, uh, have to go to school now.” He paused, not quite sure what else to say. 

She looked up and paused for a moment, as if unsure what to do. Then she grinned softly. “Oh! Speaking of which… the principal called last night to say that you don’t have to attend classes today, if you don’t want to. School was off yesterday for everyone, but today classes are scheduled again…but they said that if you still have injuries or don’t feel up to coming, you don’t have to. Whatever you decide is fine by me.” She gave another smile, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. 

He thought for a moment. “I’ll.. go to school.” Her smile lessened slightly, so he added, “I’m doing okay, really.”

His mom nodded. “Okay. I… have a good day, sweetheart. Don’t forget to take your medication!” The corners of her lips turned up. Something warm stirred in Izuku’s chest, though he wasn’t sure what. 

Izuku nodded, then grabbed his backpack and left. 

\----------------------

The door to class 1-A was suddenly much, much bigger than Izuku remembered. He swallowed the lump in his throat—caused by what, he didn’t know—and walked inside. 

There was a lot of talking and shouting. Nearly all of Izuku’s classmates were here already, spread across the room in clusters. The door shut behind him, too loud for his liking, and nearly every head in the room turned his direction. 

“Midoriya, hey! You feeling better, buddy?” called Kirishima. 

Izuku just nodded, ignoring the soreness of his arm and torso.

“Are you sure you should be here, Midoriya-kun?” Iida asked, chopping his arms characteristically. “You were heavily injured, and I am certain that the staff would not mind if you took today off.”

Izuku looked down at his shoes.“Uh… well… I could’ve stayed home, but I wanted to come,” He said quietly, speaking only so Iida could hear him. Iida gave him a look. “Really, Iida-kun. I’ll be fine, I promise.”

He ended no louder than a mumble, but Iida seemed to have caught it nonetheless. “If you insist, Midoriya-kun! Please tell me if you feel you need to take a break—I will gladly aid you with whatever you need!” He chopped his arms once more, and gave Izuku a small smile. Though Iida was typically straightforward and rigid, his grin was soft and caring. 

His yelling, however, had drawn quite the crowd. 

Suddenly, everyone was moving his direction, all at once. Iida tried to calm their classmates, but their persistence was too much—even for him. A cacophony of noise echoed through the room, and he had trouble clearly hearing anything. Izuku stepped back slightly, startled.

Uraraka seemed to notice. “Guys,” she called out, “he’s probably overwhelmed. Give him some space.” 

They sobered slightly. Izuku nodded his thanks at her, and she smiled. When the noise mostly died down again and everyone had backed away, he made his way toward his desk. In front of him sat Bakugou, who looked up slightly as Izuku passed. He glared, and Izuku lowered his gaze. 

He could tell everyone wanted to talk to him—for  _ what _ , he wasn’t sure— but they held back. The room was still loud, but less so. Izuku relaxed slightly in his chair as he observed his classmates. He hadn’t been around everyone for the majority of the attack, so he wasn’t sure how they all fared. Yesterday he had been told they were all fine. None of them needed medical attention— except him, of course. 

Still, he was worried. They all looked fine, but… no. Izuku couldn’t spot any visible injuries, and although the room had a sort of tense energy, they all seemed optimistic. 

The tension had almost completely died down, and energetic chatter filled the room once more. Izuku listened in on some conversations, signing his two cents occasionally, when the door burst open. 

There, standing at the doorway, was Aizawa. 

“Sensei, what are you doing here? You should be recovering at the hospital!” Yaoyorozu spoke up. 

She wasn’t wrong. Aizawa looked  _ bad.  _ His entire body was clad in bandages— so much so that he looked like a mummy. He was also clearly exhausted; Izuku could see it in the way his shoulders drooped and how he held himself. 

Asui— _ Tsu _ —tapped her chin. “I agree,  _ kero.  _ You’re covered in bandages, and clearly not fully healed.”

Aizawa sighed. “First of all, sit in your seats.” 

He waited until everyone was seated, but didn’t comment on the length of time it took them. “Secondly, I’m fine. My job is to teach; I’m well enough that I can do this much.”

Izuku doubted that. It was probably taking all of his energy to just stand and talk, let alone write and teach.  _ But,  _ Izuku thought,  _ he is stubborn. And strong. I wouldn’t put it past him to do something like this.  _

It looked like multiple people wanted to argue, but they kept it to themselves. 

“Now, for the topic of today’s homeroom,” Aizawa said, “the annual U.A. Sports Festival is coming up. The staff debated on whether we should do this or not, and we decided ultimately to go through with it.”

He sighed, annoyed. “I disagreed; you all just went through something that no one your age should, and you need time to recover, but that is not my decision. 

“Regardless, you should all start preparing immediately. This is your chance to show off what you’ve got. Potential recruitment opportunities come from this. Representatives from nearly every major hero agency in the area will be watching, looking for potential. I expect you all to work hard for this. Train yourselves as much as you can, and you might be rewarded. You have two weeks. That is all.” 

He then proceeded to lay down on the floor and sleep. 

The room erupted with noise, but Izuku paid them no mind. The _ Sports Festival, _ one of the biggest events of the year. Everyone who was anyone watched them, though it was usually the third years who were the most interesting. 

Izuku would watch it occasionally on the TV, taking notes about quirks, potential hero combinations, fighting styles, and anything else he could think of. It  _ was  _ an important event. The best way to show what you’ve got. 

Maybe he could—

“Midori!” Uraraka tapped his shoulder. He spun around, surprised. She grinned toothily, Kirishima and Iida at her side. Shinsou stood farther back with Kouda. 

“Are you excited?” 

He nodded, not sure how exactly to respond. 

“Me too! We can finally show our stuff, and get so many incredible opportunities! We’ve got to work hard for it, huh?” The light-hearted tone she normally used vanished in an instant as she pumped her fist in the air. “I’ll do my very best and win it, for sure!”

The confidence and vigor in her tone surprised Izuku, but it somehow fit her well. The others seemed to think so too; a pause stretched out for a moment in shock. 

Iida broke the silence and pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. “I agree, Uraraka-kun! We must train hard and increase our abilities to do our best. Maybe we could train together sometime?”

“Yeah, dude!” yelled Kirishima. “That sounds super manly! Where could we go…” He rubbed his chin in thought. 

“Well,” Shinsou spoke up, “We could ask Aizawa for a gym to train in. He’d probably agree, I think.” 

Iida chopped his arms. “What an excellent idea, Shinsou-kun! I will ask him after school, if that’s alright with everyone?” They all nodded in agreement.

“Let’s do our best!” shouted Uraraka. 

\---------

Ejirou was so  _ pumped.  _ The Sports Festival was coming up! Every year, he and his parents would watch it. Everyone was so  _ manly and cool  _ and now he could be a part of it! 

And—even better—he could train with his friends. They had plans later that week to meet after school and train at one of the gyms, and Ejirou could  _ not  _ wait. His friends were so cool! They all had such manly quirks, and they were so nice! Sure, Shinsou, Kouda, and Midoriya were a little quiet, but so was Ejirou sometimes. 

But they all  _ wanted  _ to spend time with him! Even though he had such a boring quirk and they all had such cool ones, they were so inviting. 

His luck was just so amazing. Sure, they had been attacked by villains a few days ago, but no lasting damage had been done. Well, except Midoriya and Aizawa. But they were doing fine, luckily. Still though, he couldn’t stop himself from glancing over to Midoriya and studying him every now and then, just to be sure. 

Midoriya was acting normally—so, shy, and meek, but somehow enthusiastic. Ejirou could see it in his eyes. Even though he didn’t talk loud—or at  _ all, _ most of the time—he was still so determined. It really was inspiring; Ejirou hoped he could be like that one day. Someone others could look to.

Physically, he looked… okay? One of his arms was in a sling, and Ejirou could tell from the way he was sitting that he was still a little sore. 

Not that Ejirou blamed him, of course! The little dude had gotten one heck of a beating from that Nomu thing, according to his classmates. Well, that, and his own eye witness of how crappy he’d looked in the hospital room.

It was clear that Midoriya was exhausted when they visited, and more than a little banged up. The poor guy was practically covered in bandages—much like Aizawa-sensei was now. 

And even though he looked much,  _ much  _ better now, Ejirou couldn’t help glancing over every now and then to double check that Midoriya was alright. 

(He pushed away the guilt that simmered in his gut. While Midoriya and Uraraka and Iida and Yaoyorozu had been able to help, he’d done  _ nothing.  _ He just fought low level villains in some sort of abandoned building, while his  _ friends  _ were fighting for their lives. Midoriya even got  _ hurt  _ because of it. 

But, instead of dwelling on it, he did what he had been doing for the past two days and put it away into a corner of his mind where it’ll stay until it hopefully disappears).

He and his friends talked for a little while before the bell rang. They all gathered their supplies and walked towards the door to head to lunch, but… they couldn’t. As Ejirou approached the door with his classmates, they stopped abruptly. Surrounding the exterior of the doorway was other students, uniforms signifying them in the other first year classes. 

“Um, excuse me.” said Kaminari. “Can we, um… get through, please?”

“Oh look at that!” yelled a person with blond hair. Ejirou immediately didn’t like him; he practically screamed _ “snotty-and-better-than-you” _ . 

He spoke up again. “1-A thinks they’re  _ so  _ much better than us! Why should we move, huh?”

“Because… we need to get to lunch?” said Yaoyorozu. 

The blond kid laughed. “Sure, sure! As soon as I’m finished speaking.” His manic smile turned dark very suddenly. 

Ejirou gulped nervously. What the heck was  _ wrong  _ with this dude? They just wanted to go to lunch!

“Consider this a… declaration of war. You  _ mighty  _ class 1-A kids think you’re so  _ special,  _ don’t you? Well, news flash! You’re not. Just because you got attacked by villains and made it into the ‘top’ class of the year, doesn’t mean you’re better than us!”

Bakugou growled. His hands lit up with sparks, but no explosions came. “You extras leave us  _ alone,  _ ya hear? You really think you can beat  _ me?  _ You’re just pebbles on the side of my path to success. I’ll beat you to the ground, just you see.” 

He stomped characteristically out the door, shoving his way past the people blocking it. Which, in all honesty, wasn’t all that surprising. Ejirou had to stifle a groan. 

“You see?” said the blond. “ _ This  _ is what 1-A is. Do you think they deserve the spotlight if they’re all such egotistical jerks?”

Others shook their heads around him. He grinned wider, if such a thing was possible. 

Yaoyorozu spoke up. “Wait, we’re not all—”

“1-B and 1-C are going to  _ destroy  _ you at the Sports Festival.” The blond interrupted. “And who knows? Maybe if we do well enough, they’ll kick you out and let  _ us _ in. And—” 

“Okay, I’ve heard enough.” Shinsou cut him off. “That is just plain  _ ridiculous.” _

Ejirou agreed whole-heartedly. This jerk with a capital J really thought this? 

Iida took a step forward, as if to intervene, but then decided against it. 

Shinsou continued. “I get it, I do. Life isn’t fair. Some are born with super powerful quirks, and some are not. 

“But let me tell you something. Do you think we  _ wanted  _ to get attacked by villains? To see our teacher get beaten to a bloody pulp on the ground? That we chose what quirks we have? We all worked hard to get here. If you didn’t make the cut, that’s  _ your fault.  _ I’m sorry you’re so insecure about yourself that you need to do this.”

The blond flushed in anger, then opened his mouth to object— but Shinsou raised a hand and spoke again. 

“You can work and train and try your best to kick our butts. I don’t care. But  _ do not mistake me.  _ We do not think we are better than you and we did not  _ ask  _ to be attacked. So  _ please,”  _ he glared darkly. “Leave us alone.” 

Ejirous shivered. Dang! Shinsou was downright  _ scary  _ when he wanted to be! 

The people surrounding the door seemed to agree, as they silently crept away. Well, most of them. A few individuals scowled before stomping away in what could only be described as a childish tantrum. 

“Wow, Shinsou!” yelled Ashido. “I didn’t know you had that in you! That was so cool!”

“Yeah, man! That was crazy! You sure put them in their place.” said Ejirou, slinging one arm casually over his friend. 

Shinsou looked slightly surprised, but then he flushed and looked down. “It was no big deal.”

Others started to speak up, but they were interrupted. “Alright, that’s enough.” Oh, shoot. It was Aizawa. Ejirou had almost forgotten he was there. 

“Although I’d normally give you detention for speaking like that, I’ll give you a pass, considering the circumstances. Now, get to lunch before I change my mind.” 

Jeez, even with bandages covering practically his entire body, Aizawa-sensei still managed to look downright  _ scary. _

Everyone gulped, and rushed to obey. 

\---------------------

Right as the bell rang for their last period to end, Aizawa walked into the classroom and called out: “Midoriya, grab your bag and come with me.”

Uraraka and Kirishima, among others, glanced at him worriedly. Izuku shrugged his shoulders, then packed up his stuff as fast as he could. He knew that teachers didn’t like to wait, especially for people like him. 

Aizawa walked just in front of Izuku in silence, keeping up a quick pace. That just made Izuku worry more. Had he done something wrong? Where were they going? 

Was this related to the USJ? Izuku knew he was more of a hindrance than a help—would they expel him? Aizawa had been known to do such things before. This just made Izuku swallow hard and glance at the ground to try easing his worry slightly as they walked. 

Soon enough (though it felt like an eternity to Izuku), they arrived at a plain looking door. One look at the sign above it, however, had Izuku’s worries multiplying exponentially. 

He was at the principal’s office. At Aldera, Izuku had, on occasion, been sent to the principal for  _ ‘disrupting class’ _ or  _ ‘instigating fights’. _ None of which were true, but after the first few times Izuku gave up on fighting back; there was simply no point. Adults believed what they wanted to believe, nothing more. Besides, who in their right mind would trust the word of a useless kid with an even more useless quirk. 

But, even worse, this was  _ Principal Nezu.  _ Izuku had never met the man, but he read enough hero forums online to know quite a bit. The principal was known as mischievous and deceiving; his high intelligence combined with testing making him seem… unstable to the public eye. Izuku didn’t quite believe it, seeing as he was the principal at U.A., after all. But still, the thought of facing him was far more intimidating than facing his old principal. Who knew what the rat would do. 

Would he—

Izuku’s train of thought was interrupted by Aizawa clearing his throat. Oh. He hadn’t noticed his teacher open the door. Aizawa gestured for Izuku to walk in, so Izuku did so, ducking his face in embarrassment. But past that, dread curled bitterly in his gut. As he sat in the plush chair (and  _ wow  _ was it comfortable, how much money did U.A.  _ have _ ), he regained his composure and put on a blank face. 

His old teachers had been very explicit to teach him to keep his emotions to himself. Though they often ignored him, any other time was spent making corrections. The mumbling was the first to go, followed soon by his spontaneous crying and writing in his notebooks in public. 

But Izuku understood. He shouldn’t be doing those things to draw attention to himself. 

He fought the anxiety rising up in his throat, and simply sat still while he waited for someone else to speak. His head was nearly level, but his gaze was stuck on the pattern of the floor. 

“Hello Midoriya-kun!” called a cheerful voice. Izuku glanced up for a moment to see… an empty chair. What? “How are you doing today?” The voice came from his left, so he looked to the side to see Nezu sitting on Aizawa’s shoulders, nestled comfortably in his capture weapon. 

The room was silent for a moment, until Izuku remembered he’d been asked a question. “G-good, you?” The stutter slipped out unintentionally, and he fought to keep a grimace off his face. 

Apparently, however, that answer seemed to satisfy the mouse. “I’m doing good as well, thank you! Now, I’m sure you are wondering why you were called here, correct?”

Izuku nodded, then glanced away, embarrassed. 

“That is completely understandable, especially considering we have multiple matters to discuss! First and foremost is a slight rephrase of my earlier question; how are you, Midoriya-kun? In regards to the USJ attack. Although everyone in your class was involved, you were the only one severely injured— not including Aizawa-san, of course. So I must ask, how are you doing? Are your injuries healing well? We noticed that you came to school today, which is surely a good thing, but we are still concerned.”

Huh. And wasn’t that something unexpected. Izuku had never heard a teacher talk that way to him before, or express that level of kindness and concern. He brushed off his surprise quickly, figuring it was probably just a top-school-in-the-country-doing-my-job attitude. 

Still, it took a moment to think up a response, even though it was the same excuse he’d been giving all morning. “I’m doing fine,” then he remembered to be polite to his teachers, “sir.” 

The principal, even with his rat face, somehow gave him a look.

“R-really,” he mumbled, looking at the ground again. “I  _ chose  _ to come today. I’m just a l-little sore, that’s all.”

“Midoriya,” said Aizawa-sensei, giving him a stoic stare that somehow portrayed slight annoyance. Izuku shrank into himself a little more. “We meant  _ mentally  _ as well. You both saw and felt some— quite frankly—horrible things. Are you  _ sure  _ you’re fine, problem child?”

He hesitated, fidgeting slightly in his chair despite his best efforts not to. Izuku had never really given thought to the USJ until now, preferring to keep it in the back of his mind, the same way he’d dealt with all his other problems before. But, well, he had to give them an answer. 

Still, he didn’t want to waste their time. So instead of thinking and responding truthfully, he just said, “Yeah, I’m okay, Aizawa-sensei.”

It looked like his teacher had more to say on the matter, but then decided against it. Principal Nezu clapped his paws together with a bright grin on his face. “Well then! Now that that’s taken care of, we can move to other items of business. Namely, your speech for the Sports Festival. I’m sure that you are well aware of the opening speech, but in case you are not, I’ll explain it to you. The person who places first in the entrance exam is chosen to deliver the opening speech for the Sports Festival. As such, that makes  _ you  _ the lucky first year to do so.”

Izuku gulped. He… hadn’t really thought about it before. Sure, he knew that whoever placed first in the entrance exam gave the opening speech, but… it never crossed his mind that  _ he  _ would be the one to give it. 

Nerves swirled around anxiously in his gut. People always said that it felt like butterflies, but to Izuku it was just uncomfortable. No matter how often he felt it (and that was  _ way  _ too often in his opinion) he never quite felt used to the feeling.

What could he say? He wasn’t good with words in the first place—heck, he couldn’t even really get through a sentence without stuttering. How was he going to talk in front of pretty much the  _ entirety of Japan.  _ The thought almost made him nauseous. 

Aizawa-sensei coughed into his fist quietly, drawing Izuku out of his thoughts. They were both looking at him with an expression he couldn’t quite decipher. Were they waiting for him to respond?

Just as Izuku opened his mouth to speak, principal Nezu cut him off. “I can see that you had not considered this,” he grinned cheekily, not bothering to hide his chuckle, “but we do have some suggestions.

“In years past, students have given declarations of war, but I have a feeling that is less your forte.” Izuku had to agree with the rat. “Others, however, have simply stated their determination, or even their motivation.”

Principal Nezu nodded to Aizawa-sensei, and the man moved forward to set a stack of papers on the table. “These are the recorded speeches of years past.” said Nezu. “Not all of them, of course, but enough to give you a feel for what you could say. That being said, feel free to do whatever you want, Midoriya-kun. Whatever you choose, I’m quite confident you will do well.” 

Izuku gulped again, nerves coming back with a vengeance. The  _ Principal of U.A.  _ expected him to do well in  _ public speaking.  _

Yeah, no pressure. 

It took a moment for him to put his nerves aside and took a deep breath. It was obvious that Nezu wasn’t quite done with Izuku, so he asked, “I-is there something else, sir?”

The principal’s eye gleamed for a moment, though it could have been a trick of the light. “As a matter of fact, there is one last thing, though it is far less serious than the other two.”

Izuku nodded at him to continue. 

“How are you handling your responsibilities as Class Representative?”

Nezu looked like he already knew the answer, and smiled at Izuku’s evident discomfort. He’d completely forgotten (among many,  _ many  _ other things) that he was elected as class rep. How could he forget that?

Even with the events of the USJ, it was still irresponsible of him to forget his role. When he thought about it, he hadn’t even done anything to fulfil his duty as class rep. Sure, he arrived relatively early as often as he could, but that was just a security measure for himself. Had he done anything else? No, no he hadn’t. 

Izuku felt heat rush to his cheeks as he mumbled a quiet, “I… haven’t done anything, sir. I’m very sorry. I neglected my responsibilities, and I have no excuse.” He didn’t dare lift his head to face his teacher’s wrath.

What surprised him, however, was Principal Nezu’s laugh. It was high pitched and squeaky, but also very knowing. “I’m well aware, Midoriya-kun. I  _ am  _ the principal of U.A. after all.” Izuku’s blush deepened. 

“I am, however, pleased that you responded honestly. That takes a lot of integrity. I can see why your classmates picked you as class rep, even if you haven’t fulfilled any of your duties.”

“But,” said Aizawa, voice low and stoic. Izuku had nearly forgotten he was there. “There are consequences to that negligence. You have two options, Midoriya. Either work extra hard to fulfill your responsibilities—at least, for the next few weeks,” that was fair, he supposed,“or elect someone else for the role during homeroom tomorrow.” 

Oh. Shame bubbled up, dark and bitter, through his throat. But, after a moment of thought, Izuku found that he was relieved.  _ Incredibly  _ relieved. 

“I… can really do that?” he asked, raising his head. 

Aizawa-sensei nodded curtly. “If you choose. It’s one or the other, take your pick.”

What  _ should  _ he pick? He thought for a moment, but found that the decision had already been made. 

And he knew  _ exactly  _ who would fill the role. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not sure when updates are gonna be regular again. If you’re mad about that, I’m sorry. I am thinking of doing more one shots and short fics to help me get motivated, so if you’re interested those should be starting up soon.   
> Regardless, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! It was much more day-to-day life, as well as introducing the sports festival! (Still not sure how that’s gonna go but oh well)  
> As always, stay safe out there! Thanks for sticking with me :)


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